Hell in the Labyrinth
by theshadowcat
Summary: Cross over fan fiction. What happens when Hellboy wishes Abe away to the Goblin King. Yeah, it's a JS romance too. Please R&R. COMPLETE!
1. Apartment

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Labyrinth or Hellboy or any of the characters there in. I'm just playing with them for my own twisted sense of fun. They will be returned in good order just as soon as I'm done tormenting them.

**Author's Note**: This came about from reading way to many Hellboy and Labyrinth fan fictions. Just for fair warning, if you haven't seen Hellboy, this story probably won't make much sense. It would be easier and quicker for you to just go out and rent the movie (director's cut preferably) then for me to explain it to you. Go ahead and do that. I'll wait. Ready? Great. So please enjoy my silly little cross over fan fiction and, of course, please review when you're done.

* * *

**Sarah William's apartment, New York, New York 9:54 PM**

"Pleeeease," Toby whines for the millionth time.

"No, Toby," Sarah responds as she desperately tries to hold on to her temper.

"But why not?" he continues to whine.

"Because, Dad and your mom will be back tomorrow, and I really don't want to be read the riot act if you haven't gotten enough sleep," she explains again.

_'Besides, I want you ready to go out the door the instant they get here_,' she thinks.

"Besides, I need to work on memorizing these lines for my audition tomorrow. Now please go to bed and go to sleep," she says instead.

Her dad and step-mother had gone away to celebrate their wedding anniversary and decided to dump Toby on Sarah once again. Never mind that the twenty-four year old never agreed to this. Never mind that they had to drive several hours to get here. They still think of her as a free baby sitter whenever the mood strikes them. Toby has spent the last couple of days trying to drive his older sister nuts with his constant demanding. There was a time that Sarah would have done anything for Toby, but now he has turned into a manipulative whining brat that sets her teeth on edge.

_'I went through ten hours of hell for this?' _She asks herself.

Sarah thinks back to that night nine years ago when she accidentally wished her brother to the Goblin King. She solved the Labyrinth, made some new friends and did some serious growing up that night. She also met her first crush there. Just the thought of his frost blond hair, his tall lean figure and those miss matched eyes are still enough to send shivers down her spine. She quickly squashes any thoughts that would turn this story from PG to R and turns back to the petulant child standing in front of her.

"For the last time, Toby, go to bed," she orders.

He huffs, storms off to her bedroom and slams the door behind him, causing a few books to fall off of the bookcase next to the door. Sarah sighs and shakes her head. Curling her legs underneath her, she gets more comfortable and turns back to the script in her lap. She graduated from collage a couple of years ago with a degree in theater arts, but that didn't mean that agents were beating down her door to sign her up.

So, she now works at the local big chain bookstore to pay the bills and tries to audition for every play that she can which in turn has kept her life pretty busy. Unfortunately, it also means that she has no social life whatsoever unless you count her friends from the Labyrinth that she still calls on once and a while. But it's pretty hard to date a giant orange monster that has rocks for friends, a one eyed fox who thinks he descended from Don Quixote or a dwarf who likes to collect bright shiny objects. You can get away with almost anything in this city, but even New York has its limits.

Half an hour or so later, she hears her bedroom door quietly open. Sarah turns around on the couch, ready to yell at Toby to go back to bed, but her words die in her throat. In his hand is a book bound in red leather and he has an evil grin on his face.

"Where'd you get that?" she asks in hushed voice trying not to panic.

"The shelf in the back of your closet," he answers with a smirk on his face.

"Toby, give me the book," she says carefully getting up off of the couch and putting her hand out for it.

"No," he says petulantly. "I want to stay up. And you better let me or I'm going to wish you away to the goblins."

"Please give me the book, Toby," she says through gritted teeth taking another step forward.

"Are you going to let me stay up?" he demands.

Sarah makes a lunge for the book, but Toby dodges out of the way and runs to the other side of the room.

"I WISH THE GOBLINS WOULD COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY RIGHT NOW!" he yells.

Sarah screams as all the lights suddenly go out, the windows burst open and a cold gust of wind whips through the room.


	2. BPRD

**The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Newark, New Jersey 10:46 PM**

Hellboy and Liz are just settling down to a night of movies and popcorn and Abe is in his tank just finishing up reading his latest set of books when the klaxons go off full tilt.

_"CODE RED! CODE RED! CODE RED!" _A female voice says over and over again.

"Hey, hey, hey," Liz starts.

"They're playin' our song," Hellboy finishes.

Within minutes, Hellboy and Abe are climbing into the back of a specially designed garbage truck. Abe is carrying a manila folder in his gloved hand.

"What have we got this time, Brother Blue?" Hellboy asks around the butt of a cigar.

"Goblins," Abe answers.

"Excuse me?" the large red demon questions as he takes a drag.

"Sarah Williams, age twenty-four, aspiring actress," the merman starts to read from the folder. "It seems a rather concerned neighbor heard the young woman scream, when the neighbor knocked on the door to investigate, there was a strange man and a young boy in the apartment, but not the young lady in question. The neighbor called the police. When the police arrived, the man was gone, but the boy was there with something that caused the authorities to call us."

"And that something would be…?" Hellboy prompts not really wanting the answer.

"Goblins," Abe answers.

"Of course," Hellboy responds sending out a puff of smoke. "How'd the cops know that the things were goblins?"

"The boy told them," was the answer.

"Great," he says sarcastically.

Hellboy settles back for the ride while Abe continues to go over the case file. After a few minutes, Abe opens the box containing various texts. Pulling out a likely one, he sits down and reads. After several minutes of fruitless searching, he puts it back and selects another. This process repeats several times.

"Ah," Abe finally says. "I believe I have found something."

"Great," Hellboy grumbles as he opens his glowing yellow eyes. "So how do I kill goblins?"

"Actually, goblins are fairly indestructible," Abe responds. "They're also pretty harmless. They can cause great damage in large numbers, but singly or in small groups they can do little more than cause a bit of mischief. Their king, however, is another story."

"They have king?" HB asks disbelievingly.

"Yes," Abe answers. Reading from the book, he continues. "He has considerable powers. He is able to grant wishes and dreams, create hallucinations and he can manipulate time up to a certain point, usually by speeding it up. He rules over the goblins and something called The Labyrinth. When something is wished away to the Goblin King, the person who makes the wish is given a chance to win the item back by solving The Labyrinth."

"Sounds like fun," Red comments. "So how do I tell which goblin is their king? Do I look for a crown or something?"

"While there are no descriptions of him," Abe explains, "there is mention that he's not a goblin himself, but some other being."

"Swell," Hellboy grumbles. "Any idea why they're in this lady's apartment?"

"I think someone may have wished her away," Abe answers.

A short time later, a Squeaky Clean garbage truck pulls into the alley behind the apartment building that Sarah Williams lives in.


	3. Throne Room

**Jareth's Throne Room in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City**

Sarah sits with her knees pulled up to her chin in the pit that the goblins dumped her in. The ground is cold and hard, but she doesn't care. Facing the Goblin King again within this life time was _not_ on her list of things to do. She sits there taking deep breaths, trying to calm her already frayed nerves and to figure a way out of this situation.

The thought of calling on her old friends to help Toby through the Labyrinth is the only thing she can come up with. She attempts to steady her nerves as she tries to figure out a way to contact her friends. She's only used a mirror before and there seems to be a definite lack of those in the throne room.

Standing up and stepping out of the pit onto the cold, filthy stone floor with her stocking feet, Sarah takes another look around. Goblins are lying and sitting about for the most part, making rude remarks and getting drunk. Some are on small shelves, some are on the floor, a few are chasing chickens around the room, but none sit in the only seat available: The Throne. She sees a doorway that leads to a staircase that she knows goes up to the Escher room, so she ignores that one. There is one other door, but it is guarded by goblins with very long sharp spears.

Sarah wonders if she can manage to get past the guards at the door that she knows leads outside. She contemplates how to best do this without being skewered by the ugly little beasts guarding the door. Before she can put her plans into motion, The Goblin King returns in a flash of glitter right in front of her causing her to step back.

Unfortunately, she is still standing on the edge of the pit and her step back combined with her only wearing socks causes her to start falling with her head aimed right at the edge of the far side of the pit. Before her head comes in contact with the unforgiving ground, Jareth throws a crystal at her causing her fall to stop. With mere inches from certain pain, Sarah floats, unable to stand herself up or to sit down. She just hovers there with her arms and legs uselessly waving in the breeze like a turtle on its back.

As she hangs there, Jareth watches her with an amused look on his face and that annoying smirk that he must own a patent on. Sarah glares back at him as she hangs there with her long dark hair pooling under her. He looks the same as he did when she last saw him nine years ago. He still has the same blond spiky hair, same miss matched eyes, same riding crop and boots, same shirt, cloak and leather gloves and most worryingly, the same pants that look like they were painted on.

"You plan on letting me up any time soon?" she asks, growling while desperately trying to keep her eyes above his waist line.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, my dear," he purrs with his silky smooth voice as he starts to circle her. "Is that any way to talk to your king?"

"You are NOT my king!" she yells defiantly, watching his every move.

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, love," he sneers, bending down next to her head and pointing to a clock with thirteen numbers hanging on the wall. "You see, in less than thirteen hours you will belong to me."

"If I can finish your Labyrinth in less than thirteen hours, so can Toby," she snarls back.

"Well, that would require Toby actually wanting to run the Labyrinth," he says, savoring the words. He starts to run the tip of his riding crop from her toes up her body, causing shivers in its wake. "It seems that you're dear brother, whom you went through so much trouble to get back all those years ago, isn't willing to return the favor. In fact, he seemed quite content that you are now gone. The laws say that I must give the wisher a chance to win back the wishee, but the laws also state that I can't force the wisher to run the Labyrinth. I do have to leave some goblins with him in case he changes his mind, but somehow, I don't think that's going to happen." Leaning over to whisper in her ear, "So, my love, in less than thirteen hours you will belong to me."

As he gets to the word 'me', the riding crop comes up under her chin and forces her to look at him. He can see that she's livid, not cowed like she is supposed to be. He hides his confusion as her arms and legs start thrashing through the air.

"He's not running the Labyrinth?" she demands loudly.

"I'm afraid not…," he starts to gloat but is interrupted by a flying limb which knocks him over onto the filthy floor.

"That ungrateful brat," she rants. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to kill him."

With a snap of his fingers, Sarah is upright and on her feet again. Her arms flail about as she storms around the room listing all the things she's going to do to Toby once she gets her hands on him. Jareth stands and watches with amusement as she continues her tirade. As soon as her orbit brings her close enough, he grabs her arms and quickly pins her to a wall. The look of fear on her face is most gratifying for the whole two seconds it's there, but it's quickly replaced by anger.

"As amusing as all of that seems, my dear," he snarls, "but the fact is that you'll never see your brother again and soon you will be mine."

Emotions war for dominance across her face as he starts to lower his face towards hers. His lips come dangerously close to hers and anger wins the war when she figures out what he's about to do. Just as she's about to knee his manhood into the stratosphere most of the goblins disappear from the room. Jareth suddenly lets go of Sarah and steps back.

"It seems I'm actually going to very busy today," he says as he grabs her hand and gently places a kiss on the back of it. "I'm afraid duty calls and I must leave you for a time. But fear not, my love, I will return shortly."

In a shower of glitter, Jareth disappears. Sarah rubs the back of the hand that was kissed trying to get rid of the feeling of his lips on her skin, but her hand refuses to relinquish the memory of the way his lips caressed her skin. It felt so good and there are now goose bumps up her arm. Grumbling about arrogant jerks, she starts to head toward the doors again thinking now might be the best time to make her break for it. Before she can take more than a few steps the missing goblins return dropping their load into the pit. Sarah looks into the pit and screams.


	4. Apartment 2

**Sarah's Apartment 10:58 PM**

Hellboy and Abe enter the apartment building through a back entrance followed by John Myers, the agent assigned to Hellboy. They walk into the small lobby and are met by Liz and Dr. Manning, director of the BPRD. Various agents wander around making sure the place is secure.

"Ok, the building has been evacuated except for the apartment with the infestation," Manning starts. "Agents Myers and Sherman will go in first to try and get the boy out. After that, Hellboy will go in and remove the problem. Try not to cause too much damage this time, Hellboy. The government is getting tired of paying for your messes."

"Is it my fault if the monsters don't come quietly?" Red asks rhetorically.

"The apartment is 3R," Manning continues. "There's no elevator, so we're going to have to walk it."

With that, people start to head for the stairs. John and Abe get to the staircase first and lead the way side by side. Hellboy allows Liz to precede him, but cuts Manning off before heading up the stairs himself. Due to his sheer size, no one can walk beside him on the stairs. Manning and several more agents follow the demon up the stairs but several steps behind so as to avoid being hit with the red tail in front of them.

Shortly, they are standing in a poorly lit hallway in front of apartment 3R where they can hear a TV playing rather loudly. Abe removes one of his gloves and places a webbed hand on the door trying to avoid the worst of the peeling and chipping paint. After a few moments, Abe removes his hand, placing his hand back in the glove; he turns back to the others.

"The boy is watching TV," he says. "There are six goblins."

"Well, kid, you better go in and say 'hi,'" Hellboy says to John. "Don't worry, Liz will protect you."

"Yeah, thanks," John replies sarcastically. Then he turns to Liz. "Are you ready?"

"I guess so," she answers with a shrug.

Hellboy and Abe move a safe distance away so as not to be seen as John and Liz step up to the door. John knocks softly at first, but tries again a bit harder when there's no response. After trying a couple of more times, Hellboy gets ready to pound on the door. Knowing that this will probably cause the door to collapse, Abe stops him. Putting his hand on the knob, Abe turns it and opens the door. With a graceful wave of his hand, he steps out of the way as John and Liz enter the sparsely furnished apartment.

As they step in, they can hear things moving in the shadows. A boy of about ten years of age with dirty blond hair is sitting on the couch watch a music video channel so loudly it's amazing that his ears aren't bleeding. Liz goes over to the TV and turns it off.

"Hey!" the kid yells. "I was watching that!"

He looks at the two adults staring at him. His blue eyes fill with anger at being interrupted.

"What are you doing here?" he asks snidely. "How'd you get in? Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"Hi, I'm John and this is Liz," John starts as he squats down next to the couch while Liz tries to look into the shadows of the room. "What's your name?"

"Toby," the kid answers sullenly.

"We're looking for Sarah Williams," John continues. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah, she's my _half_ sister," he answers with a smirk. "She's not here. She's not coming back either, so you might as well just go away and turn the TV back on before you leave."

"Do you know where she went?" John asks calmly.

Liz is impressed with John's ability to stay so cool with this kid. She'd probably have given the kid a good singeing by now. Something moves in her peripheral vision and turns to look at it, but it's gone. When she looks back, she can see the door opening quietly allowing a tall, thin blue figure and a very large red figure to move silently into the room.

"I wished her away to the goblins," the kid answers smugly. "And the goblins came and took her and then their king showed up and said that I wouldn't ever have to see her again. That's ok with me because she never lets me do any of the stuff that I want to do and she never has anything good to eat here and I hate it when my parents make me come here and stay with her."

"How did you wish her away?" John questions as he tries to keep his blood pressure from rising.

"I just said the words and they came," Toby huffs like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So she's not here, so you can go away now too. Or I can wish you away like I did her."

"Where did you learn the words?" John asks as he ignores the sounds of slithering in the dark corners of the room.

"A voice told me," Toby replies with a shrug. "It told me where to find the book and then it told me the words to say."

"What book?"

"That one," Toby responds as he points to a little red book with gold lettering that reads 'The Labyrinth.'

"So why did you say them?" John presses on.

"Because Sarah wouldn't let me stay up and watch TV," he sulks. "Go away or I'll say the words again."

"Now, Toby, that wouldn't be very nice," John says. "We're just trying to help."

"Help do what?" Toby asks heatedly. "Are you trying to get her back? Because you can't and I won't let you."

"Toby…" John tries to reason.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!" Toby yells.

Giggling and rustling can be heard throughout the shadows of the room. Hellboy pulls out the Samaritan and starts pointing it at the shadows. He keeps changing his aim, trying to keep up with the sounds. Liz and Abe immediately flank John in hopes of protecting him from any oncoming attacks.

"Hey, why aren't you taking them away?" Toby yells at the shadows.

"Can't do that," a giggling shadow answers from by the kitchen.

"Only one to a customer," sniggers another shadow near the window.

"What do you mean 'only one to a customer'?" Toby shouts as he stands on the couch looking into the shadows.

"Can only wish one person away," answers a voice by the bookcase.

"It's the rules," says another voice from behind the TV.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Toby screams.

He's answered by uproarious laughter, as if it was the funniest thing the hidden goblins have ever heard. Toby continues to yell at the goblins to take John away, seemingly unaware of the new arrivals. Abe picks up the little book on the couch. Taking a glove off, he allows the book to tell him what happened earlier that evening. Walking back over to Hellboy, Abe lays a hand on his shoulder. Hellboy all but knocks Abe down when he suddenly spins around.

"You have a death wish, Abe?" HB growls rhetorically.

"He really did wish his sister away to the Goblin King," Abe says.

"Oh, come on," Hellboy scoffs. "Just by saying, 'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now?'"

"Oh dear," is the last thing anyone hears Abe say as the lights go out, a cold wind blows through the room and what seems to be dozens of voices laughing high pitched insane giggles. A moment later, a barn owl flies into the room and in a cloud of glitter turns into the Goblin King complete in his black royal garb. Hellboy's burning amber eyes narrow as he levels the Samaritan at the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Hellboy asks. "Puff the Magic Drag Queen?"


	5. Flying goblins

**Jareth's Throne Room**

"Ouch," Abe groans as he's unceremoniously dumped onto something cold and hard.

Abe closes and opens his nictitating membranes a couple of times to clear his vision. As things start to come into focus, he looks around. He's in a stone pit surrounded by strange creatures that he assumes must be goblins. The drawings in his book don't do their ugliness justice. There's a lot of noise, but after a moment, Abe realizes it's not the goblins making the loudest sound. Looking up he sees a dark haired woman pressed against the wall behind her and she's screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Would you please stop screaming," Abe requests as he tries to stand up as gracefully as he can and for a change, failing.

As he finally regains his footing, he senses something flying at him. He barely manages to duck as the item sails over him. He turns to see where it came from just as another missile comes at him. He catches this one only to be rewarded with teeth and claws sinking into his arm as the goblin protests being handled. Abe quickly drops the creature as another one heads for him. Batting it out of the way, he quickly steps out of the pit and starts trying to reach the woman.

"Please stop throwing goblins at me," he requests as another goblin is batted out of the air.

The goblins have figured out that being near Sarah isn't exactly the safest place to be, so they start heading for the exits. There's a traffic jam of little ugly hairy monsters at the doors as they try to escape. Sarah follows them and starts tossing them at Abe again. She's not sure what the thing they brought back is, but she's not taking any chances.

"Miss Williams I'm not going to hurt you," Abe states as another flying goblin is avoided.

"Stay away from me!" she yells while launching yet another goblin. "Get away!"

After a while, the goblins have managed to vacate the area so all that are left are tankards, barrels of ale, cushions, some blankets and the occasional chicken. Sarah grabs a half empty tankard and turns to throw it at that blue thing. She stops with her arm raised; suddenly realizing that she's alone in the throne room. With a quick look around, she sees that the guards are also gone. Taking this as possibly her only chance, she bolts out the door toward freedom.

* * *

Abe, feeling it would be safer to be elsewhere, follows the goblins. He heads up a set of stairs that lead to a door that the goblins are cowering in front of. Curious about why they're not going through the door, Abe removes a glove and places it on the door.

"Interesting," he mutters to himself.

He reaches for the knob, but the goblins stop him.

"You can't go in there," one says.

"His Majesty would be most displeased," says another.

They start grabbing him and pulling him away from the door. They manage to drag him half way down the stairs before he can stop their movement.

"Are you sure you want to go back in there?" he asks.

"Um, oh, uh," are the answers he gets.

As Abe starts to work his way loose of their grip, a blond man appears at the base of the stairs. Abe can almost taste the power this man wields and right now it's practically coming off of him in sparks. He's furious and the goblins hide behind Abe, which is quite the feat considering how little space Abe takes up.

"Where is she?" the man yells.

"She, sire?" one of the braver goblins asks popping his head out from behind Abe's back.

"The girl," he snarls. "Where is she?"

"Girl, Your Majesty?" asks another that's hiding behind Abe's knee.

"The girl that was wished away earlier today," he growls.

"Oh, that girl," says another from behind Abe's shoulder. "Well, you see, Your Majesty, um, we don't know."

"WHAT?" the king screams.

Jareth starts stalking up the stairs towards them. Abe, having a very good sense of self preservation, steps to one side. The goblins are stacked on top of each other in a perfect silhouette of Abe. Realizing that their cover is gone, they start tumbling over each other trying to get out of their king's way.

"FIND HER!" he bellows causing the walls to slightly shake. _"NOW!"_

The goblins all but kill themselves getting down the stairs to obey their liege's orders. In a matter of moments, the staircase is clear of everyone except Abe and Jareth.

"And what are you doing here?" the monarch snarls.

"Avoiding Miss Williams," Abe answers the question simply.

Considering the first question most people ask him when they first meet is 'What are you?' Abe's rather surprised. He's actually mildly impressed that this man isn't, as Liz would put it, flipping out.

"And why would you need to avoid Miss Williams?" the king continues in a dangerous tone of voice.

Jareth takes a step closer to Abe and slips. Looking down, he sees a smear of a blue liquid on the step. Looking up the stairs, he sees several more blue smears.

"What is this blue…stuff?" he demands, not really expecting an answer.

"My blood," Abe replies simply.

Abe looks at his damaged arm and sees that teeth marks actually go fairly deep. Jareth sighs, leans against the wall, closes his eyes and rubs his temples.

"Why are you bleeding?" he questions in a slightly more sedate tone of voice without ever opening his eyes.

"It seems Miss Williams was upset by my arrival," Abe explains. "She started throwing goblins at me. I caught one unaware of what it was, and it bit and scratched me. Might I trouble you for some bandages?"

"Follow me," Jareth orders as he turns and heads back into the throne room.

Having no better options, Abe complies and carefully treads down the stairs. He enters the nearly empty throne room just as the king resumes his throne. Jareth holds up one of his hands, rays of light appear to collect at his fingertips and form into a crystal ball. He tosses it at a table. The crystal pops like a bubble and first aid supplies appear on the table.

"Thank you," Abe says.

Walking over to the table, Abe starts to clean and dress his wounds. While working, Abe is able to pick up Jareth's thoughts. His mind moves rapidly from one thing to the next. While Abe is able to figure out that the king is responsible for Sarah being here, he can't exactly determine why. The mix of emotions from the seated man is confusing. Anger, love, need, want and worry all wage war inside his mind and all for the same reason: Sarah.

After Abe finishes taping the bandages in place, and seeing that the king is ignoring him, he looks around the room. Something red catches his eye down in the pit he had been dropped in. Going over to the edge of the pit, he looks down and sees the little red book that he had picked up earlier in the apartment. Stepping down into the pit, Abe picks up the book, sits on the edge and starts to read.

"Where did you get that?" Jareth asks in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Miss Williams' apartment," Abe answers. "I was holding it when I was brought here."

Abe notices a strange sound just as the king opens his mouth. But before Jareth can say anything else, a noise can be heard from down the hall. There's laughter, yelling, shouting and screaming. The screams Abe recognizes as Sarah's.

"It seems the goblins have found Miss Williams," Abe observes.

"So it would seem," the king replies smugly with a smirk on his face.

A minute later, a fair number of goblins come in carrying a kicking and screaming Sarah. Since they're trying to hold onto a less than willing subject, scratches can be seen on Sarah's arms and her clothing is torn in several places. Abe manages to get his legs out of the way just as they dump their struggling load back into the pit. Not wishing to be within striking range of the angry woman, Abe gets up and heads toward the window.

The goblins go back to what they were doing before Abe was wished away. From the way they just return their previous activities, it's like nothing ever happened. Sputtering several unladylike comments Sarah stands up and glares at the Goblin King. Swinging his leg off of the arm rest where it had been dangling, Jareth leans toward the angry woman.

"That wasn't very wise, my dear," Jareth says in something between a purr and a growl.

"Well, it's better than just staying here," she spits back, shaking with suppressed anger. "You didn't seriously think I was just going to sit here and take this whole thing lying down did you?"

Abe picks up the lust that Jareth is now feeling towards Sarah. Her last comment about lying down seems to have brought that one on. Her feelings keep jumping between fear and anger. Abe looks around for something to distract the king. He doesn't really like where this is going. He looks out the window and is actually taken by surprise.

Spread out beyond the city walls is a vast labyrinth. The size is simply mind boggling even for Abe. Taking a closer look though, reveals a strange discrepancy.

"Your Majesty," Abe interrupts.

"Yes," Jareth snarls as he pulls his attention away from Sarah and looks at Abe.

"Is Hellboy running the Labyrinth?" Abe asks.

"Yes, he is," the king sighs. "I sincerely doubt he's going to make it in time though. He only has thirteen hours, and some how I don't think he has the brain power to even get into the Labyrinth much less beat it."

"Ah, yes, well," Abe replies as he turns back toward the window. "I think 'beat' might be the operative word here."

With a sigh of disgust Jareth walks over toward the window and looks out. The sight that greets him leaves the king speechless for a moment. With a look of anger plastered on his face, he disappears in a cloud of glitter.

"Where did he go?" Sarah asks as she steps out of the pit. The goblins closest to her quickly move out of her way.

"Down to stop Hellboy I imagine," Abe answers, looking at her.

"It's a little early for him to start messing with your ah…" she starts, eying him suspiciously.

"My friend," Abe fills in.

"Right, your friend," she continues. "I wonder how far your friend has gotten if he's already trying to interfere."

"I'd say about a tenth of the way," Abe replies as he looks out the window again.

"How can you tell from here?" she asks.

"Look for yourself," he replies as he steps away from the window.

Sarah cautiously walks over. Trying to keep an eye on the strange blue man, she glances out the window. Then she takes another longer look as what she sees registers in her brain. In absolute stunned amazement, Sarah stands there staring out the window with her mouth hanging open.

"It seems Hellboy decided to take the direct route," Abe comments as another section of Labyrinth wall collapses.


	6. Down into the Underground

**Author's Note** – This chapter takes place at the same time as the previous chapter.

* * *

While there are no guns in the Underground, there are cannons, and what looks to be a small cannon is currently being pointed at Jareth's head. Looking past the barrel of said weapon, Jareth's miss matched eyes meet glowing amber ones staring back at him. He quickly takes in the appearance of the one who called him and gets another shock. This is no man, but a human/demon hybrid standing before him, and a big red one at that. Then the question the half breed asked finally registers in his brain.

"_I_ am the Goblin King," Jareth informs the being in front of him with a snarl. He decides to try and get this over with quickly in order to get back to Sarah. Holding up his hand, he forms a crystal at his finger tips and calls forth the image of the one just wished away. "And you've just wish an innocent little _what the bloody hell is that?_"

Jareth takes a closer look at the blue being in his crystal. This was definitely no innocent babe, but a full grown blue…something. He hears snickering; an unamused Goblin King turns back to the being in front of him.

"That's Abe," the red one answers in a deep reverberating voice.

"Ah, you wished away an enemy," Jareth concludes.

"No, my best friend," is the growled reply. "It was an accident, so you can just give him back."

"As much as I would love to do that, I can't," informs the king.

"Why not?" asks a quiet female voice.

Turning to the new voice, Jareth is given another shock. The woman he sees reminds him very much of Sarah with her long dark hair and fair skin, but there the similarities end. Still, she is quite lovely; however, she's not in the least bit frightened by him. There's something else about her that he can't quite put his finger on. Then he realizes that she has power, a burning power deep inside of her.

"Because those are the rules," he finally answers her as he walks toward her. He's vaguely aware of the small cannon tracking him. "Once someone is wished away, they are mine unless the person who wished them away can make it through my Labyrinth in time."

"How much time have we got?" asks the man standing next to the woman.

The man is completely normal. Pointing at the large red guy, Jareth answers.

"_He_ has thirteen hours to make it through my Labyrinth and to my castle before Abe becomes one of us," put in dramatic pause here, "forever."

"How come you didn't take him when I wished him away?" asks a voice from the vicinity of Jareth's ribcage.

Looking down, Jareth is surprised to see Toby who's pointing at the man. Taking a quick look around, he finally realizes that he's back in Sarah's apartment. Jareth returns his gaze to the little brat who made his dreams come true.

"Ah, Toby, my fine young fellow," Jareth happily gloats. "You can only wish away one person during your lifetime. Handy little rule, that. Otherwise the entire Underground would be crawling with wished away people."

"Fine, I'll go through your Labyrinth," says a deep voice pulling Jareth's attention back to the half breed. "I'll get Abe and the Williams lady back and we'll all be home in time for breakfast."

"Hellboy, I don't like this," says the man. "You'll need backup, maybe special equipment…"

"I'll go with him," says the woman.

"No!" Jareth states forcefully. "Only the person who made the wish can go for the person that they wished away. This means that only Hellboy can go and the only person he can come back with is Abe. Sarah will remain with me."

"Fine," Hellboy responds. "The kid and I'll do it."

"I'm not going," Toby states as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"I'll take Toby's place," the woman insists while she walks up to Hellboy.

"You can't," Jareth reminds her.

"Ok, I'll wish John away," she replies.

"Hey!" John yells.

"NO! No more wishing," Jareth shouts. "The next person to make a wish will be dropped head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"I'm going," she insists.

"Fine, you can go," Jareth finally relents as he feels a migraine coming on. Waving a hand at Hellboy, he continues, "I doubt he'd be able to make it through with a map and a tour guide anyways, and you two are only going for Abe. Sarah is mine unless Toby goes with you, and I can't force him to go."

"You might not," says Hellboy as he holsters his weapon, "but I can."

A second too late, Toby realizes what's about to happen. He makes a break for the bedroom door only to be caught by a large red hand. Kicking, hitting, screaming and biting, he tries to break free of Hellboy's grip.

"Cool it, kid, or I'll have to hold onto you with my other hand," Hellboy threatens as he lets Toby get a good look at the Right Hand of Doom

Toby stops struggling and instead tries to sit down. He hangs from the arm that Hellboy is holding.

"What are you doing?" Hellboy growls.

"I'm not going," Toby pouts. "And if you make me go, you're going to have to carry me."

"Fine," Hellboy responds as flings the kid over his shoulder. He turns back to Jareth. "Ok, I think we're ready now."

"Very well," Jareth grumbles.

He walks towards the small group and smashes the crystal into the floor. As the room fades, they can hear John say, "Ah, crap."

The four of them disappear in a cloud of glitter and reappear near the edge of the vast Labyrinth. A castle can be seen on a hill past the giant maze highlighted against an orange sky.

"You have less than twelve hours," Jareth informs them pointing at a clock with thirteen numbers that's hanging in mid air, "to make it through the Labyrinth and to my castle."

"You said that we have thirteen hours a minute ago," Hellboy snarls rounding on the Goblin King.

"True, you and your lady friend have thirteen hours," Jareth concedes. "Toby, on the other hand, has less than twelve. You'll never make it in time. Such a pity."

As he says the last few words, the Goblin King and the floating clock fade from view. Hellboy turns back toward the Labyrinth, sticks a cigar in his mouth, lights it and takes a drag off of it.

"Piece a cake," Hellboy says in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Not too far away, a group of friends is busy working on removing a fairy infestation. Hoggle is using his trusty sprayer, Sir Didymus is using his staff to hit them out of the air and Ludo is simply trying to smash them between his huge hands.

"I say, Sir Hoggle, have you talked to the fair maiden of late?" Didymus asks as he swings at a fairy and misses.

"I was visitin' her a few days back, but we was interrupted by an unexpected visitor," Hoggle answers while he sprays another pest. "62. I hasn't seen her since."

"Ludo miss Sawah," the giant beast says sadly.

"We all do, Brother Ludo, we all do," Didymus comforts his large orange friend. "Tis not like Lady Sarah to take so long in calling on us. I worry if our dear friend is all right."

Further conversation is halted by the sound of crashing. They turn and see a most curious sight. A very large red man with a tail and an abnormally large hand, carrying a struggling boy over his shoulder and another who cannot be seen because the red man is blocking their view are standing next to the outside wall of the Labyrinth. They watch in fascinated horror as the red man pulls his large hand back and slams it into the wall. The process repeats a few more times until there's a large gaping hole in the wall. As the dust settles, the newcomers walk over the rubble into the Labyrinth.

Before the others can stop him, Didymus charges toward them. He quickly covers the distance and then hops to the top of the ruined bricks and gets ready to issue his challenge. But the sight of the previously unseen person stops him. While he cannot see her face, her long dark hair is all the information he needs to make his conclusion.

"Lady Sarah," he exclaims. "You have returned to us."

The woman turns towards the voice with a look of confusion on her face. The big red man drops the hand that he was about to pound into the next wall and turns to see who spoke.

"You are not Lady Sarah," Didymus states.

The woman looks at down him with a bewildered look. She stares at Didymus for a moment and then smiles and bends over to be at his level.

"Do you know Sarah Williams?" the woman asks.

"Of course," Didymus states proudly as he waves toward Hoggle and Ludo who are walking toward them. "We are her friends."

"We're trying to rescue Sarah," the woman tells them.

"The fair maiden is in danger?" Didymus asks, horrified.

"Yeah, Puff the Magic Drag Queen has got her up in his castle," the red man says.

"Jareth has Sarah?" Hoggle asks from behind the one eyed fox. "How did he get hold of her?"

"Pipsqueak here wished her away to him," the man answers.

"Sawah in danger?" Ludo asks. "Ludo help."

"Yes, of course, Brother Ludo, we will go and rescue the fair maid at once," Didymus states. Turning back the way he came he lets out a short loud whistle. "Ambrosius, come here boy."

"Hey, whoa, I didn't ask for any help," the man exclaims.

"Why not?" asks the woman. "Obviously they know Sarah, so why not let them help? Besides, they might be of some use."

"Fine," the man snarls. "Just keep them out of my way."

Turning back toward the wall, he proceeds to knock a large hole in this one as well. Meanwhile, a very timid sheep dog with a saddle on his back approaches Didymus. The little fox climbs up into the saddle and follows the newcomers, Hoggle, and Ludo through the ruined walls.

"I am Sir Didymus," Didymus states. "And these are Sir Hoggle and Sir Ludo."

"Hi, I'm Liz," says Liz. "The big guy is Hellboy and the kid is Toby."

"Toby?" asks Didymus. "Surely this is not the same Toby that our dear fair maiden solved the Labyrinth for all those years ago."

"What are you talking about?" grumbles Toby from his rather uncomfortable perch as Hellboy walks over another pile of destroyed wall.

"Let me ask you this," Hoggle starts. "Are you or are you not Sarah's brother?"

"Yeah, Sarah's my sister," Toby grouches. "What of it?"

"But she saved you," Hoggle states in stunned surprise. "She solved the Labyrinth and faced Jareth alone to get you back. How could you wish her away to him?"

"Because she didn't let me stay up as late as I wanted," Toby answers seeming rather proud of himself.

"You mean because you're a spoiled rotten brat that should be taken over someone's knee," Hellboy snarls as he sends another wall to the ground.

"Wait a minute," Liz interrupts. "Sarah and Toby have been here before?"

"Yes, nine years ago I believe," Didymus answers.

"Um, how did the Goblin King get Toby?" Liz asks.

"Oh, uh, well, you see," Hoggle stammers. "The only reason Jareth would take someone is if the person was wished away to him."

"Sarah wished me away to the Goblin King?" Toby yells in surprise. "See? I had every right to wish her away."

"Maybe," Liz responds rather heatedly. "But she at least went through the Labyrinth to get you back, you weren't even willing to try."

Before Toby can respond, Hellboy knocks down the next wall and immediately says, "Ah, crap."

The others turn and look through the new hole to see a very perturbed Goblin King standing there.


	7. Plans and Revelations

Sarah finally pulls her eyes away from the Labyrinth and the path of destruction caused by Hellboy and looks at Abe. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he looks back at her. Goblins continue doing what goblins do as if they weren't even there. Then she finally asks the question he's been waiting for.

"What are you?"

"Icthyo Sapien," he answers knowing what will come next.

"Intelligent fish?"

"Yes," he replies and then deftly changes the subject. "You should take care of your wounds. Some of them look a bit deep and goblins don't seem to be the cleanest creatures in the universe."

"I am a bit of a mess aren't I?" she says with a small laugh as she looks at herself. "You wouldn't have a first aid kit handy would you?"

"There are bandages and disinfectant over on the table," he tells her with a graceful wave of his hand toward said table.

Sarah heads over to the table and starts tending her wounds as best she can. The goblins are still avoiding her and give her a wide berth. Abe goes back to watching the Labyrinth. No more walls have collapsed, leaving Abe to worry about Hellboy. The big red monkey can be a right pain in the fins sometimes, but he is still Abe's best friend. Abe reaches out with his hand and tries to sense what's going on, but it's to far away for him to get anything.

Abe pulls his hand back and realizes that his glove is missing. Thinking about when he last saw it, he heads across the room towards the stairs on the other side.

"The only thing up there is the Escher room," Sarah informs him.

"Yes, I know," he responds. "However, I believe one of my gloves is still on the stairs. I'll be back in a moment."

Abe exits the room, and a few moments' later returns with the glove. He starts to put the glove back on. He hears a strange sound again when Sarah notices the bandaged arm.

"Why is you're arm all bandaged up?" she asks.

"A goblin bit and scratched me," he answers simply. "Fortunately, it missed my fin. Fins take the longest time to heal and regenerate."

"Was it from them bringing you here or me throwing them at you?" she questions, not quite looking at him.

"You throwing them," he replies.

"Sorry about that," she apologizes. Suddenly her socks are quite fascinating.

"You were upset," he says with an elegant shrug.

"I was, am, upset with Jareth and Toby," she says. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"I can understand," he responds. "My arrival was a great shock to you."

She still can't bring herself to look at him so all she does is shrug.

"Would you like help dressing your wounds?" he asks, changing the subject again.

"Uh, well, I think I've gotten them all…," she starts, slightly blushing.

"No you haven't," he interrupts, stepping up to her. "There are some on your back that you can't reach. I'm used to dressing wounds. Hellboy often needs tending to after a mission."

"So Hellboy is real?" she asks, finally looking at him and grateful for a distraction.

"Yes," he answers. "How do you know the Goblin King's name?"

"Hoggle told me," she answers. "Oh my god, we need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"Because I refuse to just sit here and let that beast of a king turn me into a goblin," she all but yells at him.

Before he can form a response, she grabs his hand and starts pulling him towards the door. The guards attempt to defend their post by pointing their spears at them. Letting go of Abe, Sarah grabs the first spear just under the head and then swings it with the goblin still holding onto it into a wide arc before releasing it, letting the goblin and spear go flying across the room. While her back is turned, the second guard tries to stab her, but is stopped by Abe grabbing the spear. With one swift move, Abe slams the goblin into the wall knocking it senseless for a moment. Sarah turns back, and seeing that the other guard has been dealt with, grabs Abe's hand once more before she takes off running, dragging Abe along with her.

They race down several hallways with the goblins not far behind until a large pair of metal doors can be seen. Upon seeing them, Sarah starts running even faster. Just before they reach the door, Abe stops causing Sarah to all but fall onto her backside. Abe catches her before she does and she turns on him with anger in her eyes.

"What the hell did you do that for?" she yells.

"And where do you two think you're going?" asks a quiet and sinister voice.

"That's why," Abe answers as she turns around and faces a fuming Goblin King who stands between them and the door.

The goblins come charging around the corner a second later and surround the two prisoners. Various sharp implements are pointed at them as the Goblin King stands there waiting for his answer.

"I'm leaving," Sarah states.

"Oh, really?" the king sneers.

"Yes, really," she snarls back. "If you think for one second I'm just going to sit around and let you turn me into a goblin just because my stupid, good for nothing brother isn't willing to run the Labyrinth for me, then you've got another thing coming, buster."

"At what point did I ever say I was going to turn you into a goblin?" he asks in a dangerously quiet voice as his eyes narrow.

"Uh, well, um, you didn't actually," she stammers. "But you were going to do that to Toby, so why should it be any different for me?"

"I never said that I was going to turn Toby into a goblin," Jareth returns heatedly. "I simply stated that he would become one of us forever."

"And I was supposed to think that you were going to something wonderful for him?" she demands.

"Maybe, and maybe not, you'll never know," he growls.

"Where is Hellboy?" Abe interrupts.

While his abilities to shield himself from regular emotions are normally adequate, he fears that their emotions will overwhelm him. The passion is so intense he can almost feel it and for some strange reason the run from the throne room has left a bit more tired than it should have. By interrupting, he hopes to calm them down enough to avoid a rampaging headache.

"He's in the Labyrinth trying to _solve_ it now," Jareth answers, glowering at the blue being before him.

"I guess I should have left you behind," Sarah sulks. "At least you have a chance of being free."

"Be that as it may, my dear, I would appreciate you not doing that again or I will be forced to take certain measures," Jareth threatens as he forms a crystal in his hand.

"Such as what?" she asks.

She's standing tall and staring Jareth in the eye, but Abe can practically taste her fear. He knows the king can too. Jareth throws the crystal to the ground in front of them, Sarah automatically flinches and Abe instinctively tries to protect her with his body. A moment later the three of them are standing back in the throne room. Goblins can be heard down the hall as they try to figure out where the other three went.

"Such as locking you in the dungeon," he finally answers angrily as he reclaims his throne throwing a leg over the arm.

Abe steps away from the woman. Her emotions wage war within her. Fear, rage, hopelessness, and depression each take turns in turning her into an emotional wreck as she glares at the lounging king. Those emotions are not doing much for Abe either, so he tries another diversion.

"Maybe I should help you with the scratches on your back now," he suggests.

"Sure, why not," she says listlessly, despair setting in. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

They walk back over to the table with the supplies. Abe takes his gloves off and then picks up the bottle of disinfectant and a small clean cloth.

"Would you please lift your shirt to about there?" he asks as he places the side of his hand on her back just below her bra strap.

Pulling her ruined t-shirt out of her jeans, Sarah complies and stands there quietly as Abe tends to her wounds, her head hanging down in defeat. Jareth is watching them and Abe sense the king's emotions.

"Why are you jealous?" Abe asks glancing back at the monarch.

"Who said I'm jealous?" Jareth sneers as he taps his riding crop on his boot.

"No one," Abe answers as he turns back to Sarah. "But you are."

Jareth sits there seething at the merman, not sure what to make of this strange being that is touching his Sarah. He would like nothing more than to be rid of this blue intruder that is touching what is rightfully his. Then he realizes that she won't be his for much longer if Hellboy succeeds.

How long did he watch and wait? He watched as sister and brother started to drift apart thanks to the parents. How they fawned over the younger one, giving in to any demand until he became a spoiled brat all thanks to them. How she had moved over three hundred miles away to be free of them only to have them follow her and dump her brother on her time and again. He watched as her relationship with her family disintegrated little by little.

He waited for the right moment. And it came a few short hours ago when Toby was looking for a way to get revenge on his sister. Jareth whispered in the boy's ear what to look for and where to find it. He whispered the right words for the boy to say, and then he waited a just a little longer.

When the summons came, he and the goblins were more than ready. He went to the apartment and met the now ten year old boy who didn't remember him. He told the child that he could try and get his sister back. He had to, it is the law. However, he also gave the spoiled brat a preview of what he would be facing if he did. Naturally, the little whelp wasn't too inclined to get his little hands dirty, at least not for something as unimportant as his big sister who never lets him have any fun.

So Jareth left him with a half dozen goblins that he was required to leave, and went to enjoy his new toy. The revenge he had planned would be sweet and he had wanted to savor every minute of it.

But all of that changed when Hellboy wished away Abe and then decided to run the Labyrinth taking Toby with him along with that woman. He wasn't sure why he agreed to let her come along, maybe because she reminds him of Sarah. Maybe it was because she threatened to wish away the other man in the apartment. It's crowded enough in here, he really didn't want another person to deal with. Then there is the matter of Sarah's old friends joining the little party. Jareth decides he will just have to deal with them later.

With a sigh, his thoughts turn back to his current problem. Hellboy is running the Labyrinth and he has Toby with him. On the up side, if Hellboy wins, he gets to take Abe home. On the down side, if Hellboy wins, it means Toby wins and that would mean that he will lose his only chance to keep Sarah here. And then there's the problem if Hellboy doesn't make it through in time. Then the Labyrinth gets a new blue citizen that the king has no idea what to do with. Jareth sits on his throne trying to figure a way to separate the hybrid and the child.

"Why is Toby with Hellboy?" Abe quietly asks, derailing the king's train of thought.

Jareth looks at the blue enigma. He's finished tending Sarah's wounds and they are both now sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. Sarah is sitting with legs are splayed out in front of her, her head down, her hair creating a curtain around her face and playing with the hem of her shirt. Apparently, she didn't hear Abe's question. Abe is sitting next to her with his feet on top of his knees.

"What makes you think that Toby is with Hellboy?" Jareth counters trying not to show how unnerved Abe's question has made him.

"Because that's what you're thinking about," Abe answers.

"And how would you know what I'm thinking about?" the king queries with another sneer.

"I'm telepathic," is the totally unexpected answer.

This revelation leaves the king totally speechless for some time. They stare at each other for a while. Finally, Jareth stands and disappears in a cloud of glitter.

"Oh, dear," Abe mumbles as a wave of dizziness passes over him.

Sarah looks at Abe with red rimmed eyes. He knew she had been silently crying but had not brought it to the king's attention. He did not want to give the monarch an even bigger edge over the distraught woman.

"What's the matter," she asks with a sniff.

"I'm afraid that Jareth has gone to cause problems with Hellboy," he answers.

"So?" she shrugs, looking back down at her lap. And then continues bitterly, "That's what he's supposed to do."

"Except that he has Toby with him and I believe it is Jareth's intention to split them apart," he responds.

"Toby's here in the Underground?" she asks as her head snaps up, hope returning to her eyes.

"Yes, but I believe it was by force," Abe replies.

"But Jareth said he couldn't force Toby to run the Labyrinth," she states in confusion.

"I believe Hellboy brought him," Abe explains. "Hellboy is about as subtle as an avalanche, so chances are he's dragging your brother through the Labyrinth, probably kicking and screaming."

"I don't care if hog ties him and sticks an apple in his mouth," she exclaims excitedly, "as long as he makes it here within the next seven hours or so."

In her excitement, Sarah throws her arms around Abe's neck and hugs him. At least she tries to. Finally backing off, she takes a critical look at his attire.

"What's that thing around your neck?" she eventually asks.

"It's my respirator," he answers fighting off another round of dizziness.

"Ok, next question," she says as she looks at her hands. "Why is your back all wet?"

Reaching a graceful hand behind him, Abe touches his back and comes back with water on his glove. He swiftly removes his gloves and carefully probes around the respirator until he finds what he had hoped wasn't there.

With great care, he spends the next several minutes removing his respirator, exposing his gills to the air. He examines the hard outer casing and finally finds the problem. A crack that was created when he was dumped into the pit by the goblins is letting the water slowly leak out of the respirator. Upon closer examination, it's obvious that the damage is irreparable. He looks up at Sarah who's watching his neck in fascination.

"Are those gills?" she inquires, pointing at the side of his neck.

"Yes," he responds quietly.

"What's the matter?" she asks, noting the change in his voice.

"My respirator is broken and without, I will eventually die."

* * *

**Author's note: **Love it? Hate it? Please review it.


	8. Mending Walls

**Author's note**: Again, this chapter takes place at the same time as the last one.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?" Jareth demands.

"Just doin' what you told me to, Queenie," Hellboy shoots back blowing out a thick cloud of cigar smoke into the kings face.

"I don't recall telling you to destroy my Labyrinth," Jareth quietly responds, rage seething just below the surface.

"Yes, you did," Hellboy inform him. "You told me to go _through_ the Labyrinth, and that's just what I'm doing."

Without a word, Jareth produces a crystal and throws it at the wall behind him. A glow starting at the point of impact grows along the wall in spider web like tendrils until a section of wall that's about fifty feet wide is glowing. Jareth turns back around with a smirk plastered to his face. Hellboy gets the sudden urge to punch it off and his right hand starts to curl into a fist. The sound of stone grating against stone can be heard by all.

"That should slow you down," the king sneers as he saunters a few steps away from the group. "You will now have to try and _solve_ my Labyrinth. I've made the wall unbreakable, so don't bother trying."

One thing that Hellboy can never turn down is a challenge. Pulling his right arm back, he lets his fist fly. For the first time in his life, Hellboy is unable to bash down a wall. It towers over them completely unscathed. He stands there staring at it for a few heart beats, switches Toby to the other shoulder, and then he pulls out the Samaritan. He points the over sized weapon at the offending wall and shoots. The wall continues to stand unmarked and Hellboy is starting to lose his temper.

Ludo and Didymus watch, unsure of what to do. While the desire to help is strong, Jareth is still their king. Hoggle tries to get Liz's attention while staying out of Jareth's line of sight.

"Psst, little missy," he whispers hoarsely desperately tugging on her hand. "I know another way."

"What's this?" Jareth asks mockingly spotting the dwarf. "Are you helping these people, Higgle?"

"Hoggle," Hoggle automatically corrects. "And so what if I am? I don't work for you no more so I can do as I please."

"Remember your place," Jareth threatens as he stalks toward the now cowering dwarf.

The king's path is suddenly blocked by Liz. Jareth looks down on the woman that dares stand up to him. The courage in her dark eyes once again reminds him of the courage Sarah's hazel ones had shown him when she ran the Labyrinth. Of course he knew behind the courage was fear with Sarah, not so with this one.

"So what if he's helping us?" she challenges. "You've already stated you didn't think we'd be able to get through even with a map and a tour guide. So why not let them help us?"

Jareth smirks and backs off. He forms another crystal and starts playing with it. He lets it roll around his hands and arms for a minute. Suddenly, he throws it at the damaged wall they just came through. Bricks lying around on the ground jump back to where they had been previously been before Hellboy's arrival. Within a short period of time the wall looks like it has never been touched and now the glowing tendrils cover this wall just like the one across the way.

"This should make it more interesting," he gloats. "This spell will make the walls of the Labyrinth impervious to your attacks, and it will follow you everywhere. Such a pity that you'll never make it in time." Then glaring at Hoggle he adds, "I'll deal with you later, Hogwart."

"Hoggle," the small man corrects again quietly.

With another smirk, the king disappears in a cloud of glitter. The small group stands there as idle bits of glitter floats around on the breeze. Toby starts struggling again and Hellboy rests his right hand on top of him causing the kid to immediately stop his thrashing.

"Hoggle, you said something about knowing another way," Liz says, turning toward the worried dwarf.

"Yeah," he mumbles. "But it's a couple of corridors back and there's no way to gets there now. We'll have to go the long way. Comes on, follow me."

With that, Hoggle limps past the place Jareth was previously standing and heads down the passage way. Liz follows just behind him with Didymus and Ambrosius by her side, Hellboy trails along in their wake and Ludo brings up the rear. Hellboy keeps an eye on the walls, but true to Jareth's word, the glow follows them keeping Hellboy from wreaking more havoc on the Labyrinth.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jareth appears in the outermost corridor surveying the damage done by the giant red oaf. Producing crystal after crystal, he starts to repair the walls. As the last brick takes its place back where it belongs, Jareth runs a gloved hand over the once damaged area. Resting his forehead against the cool surface, he sighs.

All he wanted was to get Sarah back. At first he tried to convince himself that he was doing it for revenge on the only mortal to ever best his Labyrinth, the only female to ever turn him down. But now that she's here and he can see her, hear her, smell her, touch her, and almost even taste her, he's not so sure he what he wants. His pride and ego wants revenge on her. His heart wants her.

* * *

A short time later, Hellboy and gang find themselves in the hedge maze. The glow that had followed them down brick halls now follows them on the bushes that make up the walls. Hellboy experiments with another punch, but gets the same results as before.

"Let me try," Liz says while she walks up to the hedge as blue flames engulf her hand.

"My lady," Didymus exclaims. "Your hand, it is on fire!"

"Yes, I know," she answers with a small, sad smile.

Hellboy watches curiously as the others watch in fascination. Liz puts her hand on the plant willing it to burn. She concentrates and the flames get bigger and hotter engulfing the bush. Pulling her hand back and dousing the flames dancing around her fingers she watches as the flames disappear from the hedge leaving no trace of her efforts. Liz gives a shrug and they follow Hoggle through the maze.

Toby squirms every once and a while, but usually to readjust himself. Being thrown over Hellboy's shoulder is not the most comfortable place to be. The kid seethes about the way he's being treated. He could be watching music videos or playing with his Game Boy or even seeing if Sarah had some junk food stashed somewhere in her apartment. But no, he's stuck here being dragged around like a sack of potatoes. His dad is a big time lawyer, Toby's sure that there's cause for some sort of lawsuit here.

Fairies can be seen flitting about and it takes all of Hoggle's willpower not to go after them with his sprayer. Hellboy and Liz ignore the little nuisances. As they pause for Hoggle to determine which way they should go, Toby finally notices the small beings. One hovers next to a nearby bush and he reaches out a hand to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hellboy tells him, looking back over his shoulder at the kid.

"Why not?" Toby asks petulantly.

"Because fairies bite," he answers.

Toby quickly pulls his hand back as the creature takes a lunge at the retreating hand. They continue on for a while longer. Up ahead they can see an archway that looks like it might be the exit. Hoggle leads them towards it.

"This hasn't been so bad," Hellboy observes. "I don't see what the big deal is about this Labyrinth."

"That's 'cause you've got a guide," Hoggle grumbles. "If I wasn't here you'd find yourself in an oubliette, or the firey's forest or worse yet the bog of eternal stench before yous could blink."

They pass through the archway into a garden filled with flowers of every color that could possibly be imagined. The fragrance is almost overwhelming with the heady scent of all of the flowers. On the other side of the garden they can see another archway.

"Humph," Hoggle mumbles to himself. "This shouldn't be here."

"What do you mean 'this shouldn't be here'?" Hellboy asks, his amber eyes narrowing.

"Well, you see it's like this," Hoggle explains. "The Labyrinth is a living thing. Not like yous and me, mind you, but it's alive nonetheless. It's constantly changing and the weird thing is I ain't never seen this garden before."

"Should we go another way?" Liz asks.

"We can't," Hoggle says. "We don't have enough time to find a way around this. We just need to get to the other side."

"It's just a garden." Hellboy points out. "How dangerous can it be?"

"Nothing is what it seems in this place," Hoggle cautions as he carefully takes a step onto the garden path. "Well, come on. Just don't touch nothin'."

They carefully walk through the garden in single file, careful not to touch any of the plants. About half way through, Liz leans over and sniffs a rose the same shade of red as Hellboy's skin, and that's when all hell breaks loose. Hundreds of fairies come flying out of the bushes at them.

Biting and scratching with their tiny teeth and nails, the fairies cause a multitude of welts and small wounds. A well placed bite on the rump of Ambrosius causes Didymus's steed to rear up, unseating Didymus and bolting out of the garden as fast as his legs can carry him. Didymus, never being one to run from a fight, immediately stands back up and does battle with the little winged pests.

Hoggle brings out his sprayer and sprays for all he's worth, but it's just not enough. It barely does any damage to the vast number of fairies and the reservoir is quickly emptied leaving Hoggle to swat them with his hands

Ludo does his best trying to squish them with his mitt sized hands, howling with the pain they're causing him. Toby swings his arms wildly trying to protect himself. Hellboy also waves his arms around trying to get rid of the little monsters. A bite to the tail causes him to bellow as he wildly spins around trying to splatter the offending beast that bit him and in the process causes Toby to go flying off of his shoulder into the bushes. As soon as Toby scrambles free of the plants, he gets his feet under him and makes his break for freedom. Hellboy starts to go after him until he notices Liz.

She's also sweeping the air with her arms, but she doing more damage than anyone else. The flames are already past her elbows and they're quickly starting to spread.

"RED!" is all the warning she needs to yell out.

Hellboy grabs Hoggle and Didymus. Stuffing them both into his left arm, he starts pushing Ludo towards the exit.

"RUN!" he yells to the large orange beast.

Ludo needs no further encouragement to try and escape from his tormentors. Hellboy pushes Ludo through the archway and out to another part of the hedge maze. Noticing the golden glow of Jareth's spell still following him, Hellboy finds a dead end in the hedges. Hellboy quickly shoves Ludo toward the dead end and then drops the other two next to the beast.

"Get down!" he orders, forcing Ludo down to his hands and knees. Using his own body as a shield, he tries to protect them as best he can as the firestorm over takes them. The heat is incredible as the flames rage past their shelter.

After about a minute, the fire subsides. Hellboy idly notices that Jareth's spell is still in place around the bushes and for a change, he's actually thankful that the arrogant jerk created those spells. Of course, if he hadn't created the spells in the first place, this probably wouldn't have happened, but there's nothing to be done for it now.

Hellboy carefully steps out of the protection of the hedges and looks around. There is nothing left of the hedge maze except the bushes that they were hiding in. For at least a half mile in every direction there is nothing but scorched wasteland. The others peek out from their shelter and look around in awe of the devastation.

"What the bloody hell have you done to my hedge maze?" growls a voice behind Hellboy.

"Liz," is all Hellboy says.

He trots back to where he sees her lying on the ground. After checking for any injuries beyond the ones caused by the fairies first, he then carefully picks Liz's small, limp form into his large arms. Heading back towards the others, he sees that Jareth is still there. He seems to be barely containing his anger.

"I will ask you again," Jareth snarls. "What have you done to my hedge maze?"

"I already told you," Hellboy snarls back. "Liz."

Jareth looks at the unconscious woman and notices that the burning power that he had sensed in her earlier is now just a glowing ember. He watches as Hellboy gently puts her down with her back to one of the untouched bushes. Hellboy gently brushes her hair from her face as he intently watches her. Jareth idly wonders if Liz is aware of Hellboy's feelings towards her.

"Is she…?" Hoggle starts to ask.

"No," Hellboy answers automatically. "She's just unconscious. I'm not sure how long she'll be out though."

"The fair maiden did all this?" Didymus asks disbelievingly as he waves his staff towards the devastation.

"Yeah," Hellboy sighs as he picks her back up. "Come on, we need to get going."

As Hellboy scoops Liz back up into his arms, the others step out onto the quickly cooling ground only to be faced with their king.

"Where is the boy?" he asks.

"Damn good question," Hellboy replies as he stands back up. "He took off after the fairies attacked."

With a twist of his wrist, Jareth produces another crystal and looks into it. What he sees causes him to smile. Without another word, he disappears again.

"Damn," Hoggle mutters.

"What's the matter?" Hellboy asks.

"Toby's in an oubliette," the dwarf answers. "And I'm not sure which one."

* * *

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	9. Of Water and Wings

Sarah stares at Abe with worry in her eyes. Before she can say anything, Abe's head snaps towards the window and his eyes widen slightly.

"Oh god, no," he whispers. "Liz."

In a heartbeat Abe is scrambling across the room and onto the window ledge. He crouches there at first looking like a giant blue and black frog. Then he stands up as far as the window will allow him. Sarah gets up and joins him, climbing up next to him.

Directly below them they can see the goblin city. Beyond that, there's the junk yard, the forest and finally, the Labyrinth itself. Sarah doesn't need to ask Abe what he's looking for; she can see the fire raging through the hedge maze.

Suddenly, the edge of the fire shoots straight up into the air. They watch in surprise as the flames go more than a half mile up into the sky.

"Jareth," Abe says. "He's created a shield to try and contain Liz's fire."

"Who's Liz?" Sarah asks as they watch the flames start to die down.

"Another freak like Hellboy and me," he answers. "She's a pyrokinetic. She can create and control fire. Unfortunately, sometimes she has episodes where she loses control. Once it's over she'll be unconscious anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. I wonder why Jareth let her come along."

"Toby," Sarah barely chokes out. "He's in the middle of that isn't he?"

"If she's with Hellboy, then yes," Abe answers quietly.

He puts a comforting arm around her shoulders as her body starts to shake. Silent tears fall down her cheeks as she leans into Abe for comfort and support.

They watch as the last of the flames die down and the thick heavy smoke that it created gets blown away by the wind. They continue to watch until Jareth reappears behind them.

"Well, aren't you two just precious," Jareth sneers. "I certainly hope you're not planning on trying to escape that way. It's a very long way down."

Abe and Sarah turn toward the king and see that he's already lounging on his throne. He's pointedly not looking at them as he idly taps his riding crop on his boot. Abe can feel the jealousy radiating from the monarch.

"T-T-Toby," Sarah stutters. "Is he…?"

"He's fine," Jareth replies, still not looking at them. "He's safely tucked away in one of my oubliettes."

Relief washes over her which is quickly followed by despair. She sinks down and sits on the window ledge. Her shoulders are slumped in defeat.

"What about the others?" Abe asks.

"The knight, beast and dwarf are all fine, as are your friends," Jareth answers noncommittally.

"Sir Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle are with them?" Sarah asks; hope returning once more as she sits up with her shoulders back.

"Yes," the king snarls.

"Hoggle will find Toby," she states.

"I wouldn't be so sure, my dear," Jareth replies finally looking toward them with a smirk plastered onto his face. "The Labyrinth is filled with oubliettes. Toby could be in any one of them."

"But Hoggle is with them," Sarah points out. "If he could find me in the oubliette that I fell into, then he can find Toby."

"The only reason that Hoghead found you is because I sent him to you," he mocks as he watches her eyes grow large.

"Hoggle," she corrects as gravity takes a hold of her head and shoulders again causing them come down once more.

Between Sarah's roller coaster emotions and Jareth's jealousy, Abe is getting the granddaddy of all headaches. It doesn't help that without the respirator he's starting to have trouble breathing. He quietly steps off of the window ledge and walks back towards his discarded equipment.

He sits back down and fiddles with the respirator for a while. After dumping what little water is left in the thing onto his head, he carefully takes it apart. Closer examination confirms what Abe already expected; it's damaged beyond repair. Putting it back together is an exercise in futility, but he has nothing better to do. So with meticulous care, Abe reassembles his respirator. When that is completed, he pulls his knees up to his chest and puts his head on them.

Jareth has been watching this whole process from the comfort of his throne. He idly wonders about those moving things on the side of Abe's neck, but not so much so that he's willing to interrupt the blue man. He's so engrossed in watching Abe that he never even notices Sarah move off of the ledge.

"Please, let him go," she begs quietly.

Jareth gives a little jump of surprise. He quickly recovers and looks at Sarah. She's kneeling at the base of his throne and looking at him with pleading red rimmed eyes. It's obvious that she's been crying, and Jareth would like nothing better than to pull her into his arms and comfort her. However, he's not about to show any weakness in front Abe.

"No," he simply answers turning away.

"Please," she pleads.

"Why should I?" he asks with a smirk.

"Because he's dying," she answers almost sounding desperate.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, my dear," he sneers. "A few hours in an oubliette won't bring any harm to your brother. In fact, it might do him some good."

"I'm not talking about Toby," she replies a bit hotly. He turns and looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm talking about Abe. Without his respirator, he'll die."

With a sigh, Jareth closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he leans on the same arm. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why did these people have to show up and ruin everything?

Jareth swiftly stands and walks towards Abe. Without a word to the merman, the king picks up the abandoned respirator and looks at it. Abe looks up at him with curiosity.

"I can't fix it," Jareth states, casually dropping the respirator into Abe's lap.

"Why not?" she asks.

"Because it's made of a synthetic material," he answers looking over at her still kneeling on the floor. "I could damage it further, but I can't fix it."

Jareth looks back down at Abe. Abe has returned to resting his head on his knees. Jareth has a perfect view of the back of the things on Abe's neck. It finally dawns on the king that they're gills.

"What do you require to survive?" Jareth asks Abe with an exasperated sigh.

"Water," Abe answers looking back up at Jareth. "Preferably enough to submerge in."

Jareth creates another crystal and starts playing with it as he walks back towards his throne. He reclaims his seat and casually looks around barely registering that there are no goblins in the throne room. With an almost negligent flick of the wrist, the crystal flies through the air and lands in the pit. When it touches the bottom, it pops like a bubble and the pit is instantly filled with clear, clean water.

"You can use that for now," Jareth states casually. "After Hellboy loses, then we'll find you more permanent arrangements."

Abe looks at the water for a moment and then quickly strips off the rest of his dry land equipment. Without even standing up, Abe crawls across the stone floor and slides into the water, barely making a wave in the process. Abe sighs with relief as the cool water soothes his aching body.

_Thank you,_ Jareth hears Abe's voice in his head.

"Thank you," Sarah says a split second later

"You're welcome," Jareth responds to both of them.

The two land dwellers observe the merman as he sinks to the bottom of the pit. They continue to watch as he closes first the nictitating membranes and then his eye lids. There's isn't a lot of oxygen with this little water, so Abe doesn't want to waste it by moving around a lot. Abe relaxes and starts to meditate giving the appearance of sleep.

Sarah stands back up and goes over to the widow again. Climbing back up onto the ledge, she pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on them. She looks back out over the Labyrinth and sighs as the depression takes hold of her again.

"Would you like something to eat?" Jareth asks.

"No, thank you," she answers. "I'm not hungry."

"Nonsense," he responds. "You have had nothing to drink or eat since you got here. You must be hungry by now."

"No, thank you," she repeats.

"How can you possibly not be hungry?" he asks getting rather annoyed.

"Being kidnapped and then told I'll belong to you in a matter of hours tends to do weird things to my appetite," she grumbles.

"I didn't kidnap you," he replies standing up.

"Sorry, getting wished away and told that I'm going to be your slave tends to do weird things to my appetite," she sarcastically replies. "Besides, the last time I accepted food that was from you I ended up forgetting everything and had a very bizarre dream.

"There's more to this world than just the parts you've seen," he says as he comes up behind her, deftly changing the subject. "It's a very beautiful world that hasn't been damaged by people or pollution."

"I'm sure it is," she responds.

She is trying to ignore the feelings starting to course through her. He's so close she can feel his body heat. She suppresses a shudder as her body yearns for him to touch her.

"Would it be so terrible to live here?" he asks.

"Probably not if I came of my own free will," she answers bitterly. "But that's not an option now, is it?"

Hearing the water lap against the sides of the pit reminds Sarah of something.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asks turning to face him.

Jareth looks at her suspiciously at her for a minute and then he turns to order a goblin around. He finally notices that there are no goblins in the room. He creates another crystal and peers into it. The goblins are sitting around in the foyer trying to remember what they're doing there. With a sigh of disgust, Jareth throws the crystal at the wall across the room and a door appears.

"You'll find what you need in there," he tells her.

"Thank you," she says as she slides off of the ledge and disappears through the door.

"Why have I become so weak?" Jareth questions the air as he retakes his seat.

_Being in love is not a weakness_, Abe answers.

Jareth practically jumps out of his skin when Abe does that. Looking back down into the pit, Abe hasn't even so much opened an eye lid, much less moved. The only movement is his gills gently pulsing along the merman's neck.

"And you would know this because…?" Jareth asks mockingly.

_Try doing something to Liz and see what Hellboy does to you,_ the merman replies. _It may give your enemies leverage against you, but it will give you a strength that you never knew you possessed._

"What makes you think I'm in love anyways?" the king inquires suddenly defensive.

_Why else would you go through all the time, energy and trouble it took to get Sarah back here?_ Abe asks.

"Revenge," Jareth answers confidently.

_Maybe that's your rationalization for your actions, but that's just your brain trying to find an excuse to do what your heart wants,_ Abe comments. _I would suggest that you tell Sarah the truth about how she got here. If she finds out any other way, it may cause irreparable damage to your relationship with her._

"I don't believe this," Jareth mutters. "I'm getting love advice from a glorified goldfish."

Jareth can hear Abe chuckling in his mind. Before Jareth can respond further, Sarah comes back through the door. Her clothing is still a mess but the tear streaks on her face are gone indicating that she's washed her face. Jareth watches her as she reclaims her spot on the window ledge.

He thinks back to the first time he saw her. She was little more than a child on the verge of becoming a woman. Her belief in the fantastical was so strong that it called him to her between their worlds. She had the book that only those who truly believed would ever be able to possess. Not only did she read the book, she acted it out and that's what fascinated him the most. He would go to watch her practice in the park in the form of an owl. He would watch her for hours.

_Some people would call that stalking, you know_, Abe points out.

Jareth ignores him and continues in his musings. He wanted to go to her in his true form, but knew that it was too soon, that she was not ready. Then she forced the issue by wishing Toby away, and he stepped into the role that she expected of him: The Evil Goblin King. It killed him to do it, but for her he reordered time and moved the stars. Nine years ago she was too young to appreciate that, and he knew it. But now, she was a grown woman, still full of the fire and passion that attracted him to her in the first place.

_Then tell her_, Abe encourages.

Jareth looks at Sarah again. Her back is to him and she hasn't moved from her spot on the ledge. He can see the bandages on her back through the holes in her shirt. Thoughts of drop kicking a few goblins for the way they handled her cross through his mind and he stands and walks over to her.

He stands off to one side of the window so he can see her face. She's looking down and she doesn't look all that happy. In fact, it looks like she's mad. In her hand is the book that started everything. She's scanning the pages looking for something. She turns and looks at the king, the fire back in her eyes.

"How did Toby learn the words?" she asks, straining to keep her voice even.

Jareth stares at her for a moment before he finally answers.

"What words?" he asks nonchalantly.

"The words to wish me away," she replies heatedly. "They aren't in the book. When I wished him away it was an accident, but he intentionally wished me away. That means that someone gave him the words and I know it wasn't me."

"Oh, those words," he stalls. "Are you sure you wouldn't like something to eat?"

"Don't change the subject," she growls. "It was you, wasn't it? You gave Toby the words. You told him to wish me away."

"Would you like some clean clothes?" he suggests.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Jareth!" she yells slamming her fist down onto the window sill. "Did you or did you not give Toby the words so he could wish me away to you?"

"That's the first time you've ever called me by my name," he says quietly. "But to answer your question, yes, I gave Toby the words."

"How could you?" she asks nearly in tears. "I had a life back in the Aboveground. What right did you have to take that away from me?"

"A life?" he asks hotly. "Is that what you call it? You work night and day to try and make ends meet; you have no human friends, no social life and a family that takes advantage of you. You've lost your dreams. Why would you want that when I can give you your dreams? I can give you anything you want."

"But you didn't offer me my dreams, now did you?" she cries out. "Instead, you trick Toby into wishing me away!"

"I offered you your dreams nine years ago," he reminds her.

"I was fifteen years old," she reminds him. "And what choice did I have? It was my dreams or Toby. That's not much of a choice."

"It was never about the child," he tries to reason. "I would have returned him home if you had stayed."

"I WAS FIFTEEN!" she screams. "I wasn't ready for that type of relationship. And let me tell you about a little thing called statutory rape."

"A couple of hundred years ago, a fifteen year old girl would not only be married, but a mother as well," he informs her.

"Yeah, well, welcome to the twenty first century!" she yells.

"Could you two take this somewhere else?" Abe asks before Jareth can respond.

Abe is leaning on the edge of the pit with the lower half of his body still submerged.

"Why? So you can try and escape?" the king asks looking daggers at the merman.

"And how far do you think I'll get without my respirator?" Abe counters.

Jareth stares at him for a few moments and then produces two crystals. After spinning them around in his hand a couple of times he throws the first one towards the door that leads out. Two goblin guards appear looking a bit confused.

"Guard the door, and don't let him leave," the king orders, pointing at Abe.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the both answer with a bow.

Grabbing Sarah by the hand, Jareth drags her off of the window ledge. She starts to struggle and tries to pull away.

"I'm not going anywhere with…" she starts to protest as Jareth throws down the second crystal. "…you."

She finishes her bold statement rather weakly as she looks around an all too familiar room. A shiver runs down her spine as she looks around. Nothing has changed. It's still as beautiful and decadent as she remembers. The only difference is that there is just the two of them in the ballroom.


	10. Not out of the Woods

"AMBROSIUS!" Didymus yells for what seems the hundredth time. The fact that the dog has yet to respond to the call of his master doesn't seem to deter the knight. "AMBROSIUS, COME HERE BOY!"

"Could you please give it a rest," Hellboy grumbles. "You're giving me a headache."

"And trust me," says a quiet voice from the vicinity of Hellboy's chest, "if you think he's grumpy now, he's a real grouch when he has a headache."

Didymus hangs his head and his ever proud tail drags on the ground as he trudges on. Hellboy looks down at Liz and smiles.

"Hello, beautiful," he whispers.

"Hi," she responds. "How long was I out this time?"

"A couple of hours," he answers.

"Was anyone hurt?" she quietly inquires.

"Well, the dog is missing, and the kid is in an oubliette, but other than that everyone is accounted for," he replies.

"What's an oubliette?" she questions.

"It's a place where yous put someone to forget about them," Hoggle responds.

"You can put me down now, Red," Liz tells Hellboy.

"I know," he replies.

He continues to walk on without bothering to stop and put her down. With a sigh and a shake of her head, Liz looks around. She sees that they're still in the hedge maze and that Hoggle is still playing tour guide.

"I thought I burned this place down," she says.

"You know that's the weird thing," Hellboy comments. "We got to the edge of the blast zone, and it just stopped, like the fire had hit a wall or something."

"Humph," Hoggle grumbles. "Jareth stopped little missy's fire from burning down his precious hedge maze. Past nine years he's done nothin' but obsess about making the Labyrinth even harder. Not about a little thing like fire put a crimp in his plans."

"What happened nine years ago?" Hellboy asks.

"Sarah," Hoggle answers simply. "Ever since Sarah defeated the Labyrinth, Jareth has been tryin' to figure a way to get her back here. I guess all his plannin' finally worked out. Never thought I'd see the day when Sarah would be back in the Underground."

"So he's been looking for revenge all these year?" Liz asks. "Seems a bit obsessive compulsive to me."

"That's Jareth for ya," Hoggle responds. "As for wanting revenge, well, that's what he keeps telling everyones, but I think it's more than that."

"Why do you say that?" Hellboy questions.

"Because the last time anyone said anything less then complimentaries about Sarah ended up head first in the Bog of Eternal Stench," Hoggle replies.

"So why do you think he's worked so hard to get her back here?" Liz asks.

"Well, I thinks he's in love with her," Hoggle answers.

"All this because he's in love?" Hellboy queries. "A bit over the top if you ask me."

"I don't know," Liz teases. "I can name someone who's done some pretty outrageous things for the woman he loves."

"That's different," Hellboy grumbles, turning a darker shade of red.

They round another corner and come to two walls joined together at a ninety degree angle. A door are situated in each wall and on each door is a gruesome face made of brass and no knobs or handles. The door on the left has a large ring that starts in one ear, passes under the chin and ends in the other ear. The door on the right has no ring at all.

Hoggle marches up to the door on the right and glares at the face. The face stares back.

"It's rude to stare," the door accuses.

"Where's your ring?" Hoggle demands.

"Don't know," it sniffs. "Don't care."

"Great," Hoggle growls and turns towards the others. "We need to find a brass ring like that one."

Hoggle points a stubby finger towards the ring hanging from the door on the left.

"It's rude to point," the door on the left yells.

"Why do we need it?" asks Hellboy.

"The only way these doors open is to knock on them using the knockers," Hoggle answers.

"Why don't we go through the door on the left, since we can't get through other one?" Liz asks.

"Because that one leads back to the outside of the Labyrinth," Hoggle replies.

"Ok, that's bad," Liz responds. "Red, please put me down now."

Hellboy complies and they start to look for the missing ring.

* * *

Toby is mad. Not just mad, he is fuming mad. It's all Sarah's fault. If she had just done as he wanted, then he wouldn't have wished her away. And that stupid Goblin King. Who does he think he is anyways? He left those stupid goblins of his and that brought those people, if 'people' is the right term. Then he got dragged here and now he's stuck in some god forsaken hole in the ground.

Toby hears whimpering and kicks in the general direction of the sound. Failing to hit his mark makes the boy even madder.

"Shut up, you stupid mutt," Toby yells. "It's all your fault we're in here."

Ambrosius keeps well out of the boy's reach since he already sports several sore spots not just from the fall into the oubliette but from the little beast as well. It doesn't help the poor cowardly animal that the bite that caused him to run in the first place still hurts. The dog puts his head down on his paws and silently pines for Sir Didymus and facing dangers untold and hardships unnumbered with his brave knight. Anything would be better than being stuck down here with this abusive creature.

The smell of smoke drifts into the oubliette on a faint breeze catching Ambrosius's attention. Lifting his head up, the steed sniffs deeply. It is coming from somewhere nearby. Getting up, Ambrosius checks carefully, but the breeze isn't coming through the hole they fell through some time ago.

As quietly as he can, he lets his nose lead him to a small opening on the far side of the oubliette. It's just big enough for him to squeeze through. Without a thought for the cruel child behind him, Ambrosius crawls through the hole and starts to wend his way through a maze of dark tunnels. So intent on following his nose, he doesn't notice that he's being followed.

Toby hears the dog moving around, sniffing for something. At first he just ignores the stupid mutt, but when Ambrosius stops on the far side of the hole they're in and sniffs intently, Toby's curiosity is piqued.

He carefully crawls towards the dog only to find a hole in the wall and no dog. Not being a particularly large child finally has an advantage in his life. As quietly as possible, Toby follows the sounds of Ambrosius. Whenever the boy reaches a fork in the tunnel, all he has to do is listen for the sound of Ambrosius's tack or his sniffing or his toenails clicking on the hard ground.

After what seems to be days later, a light can finally be seen at the end of the long winding passage. Upon seeing the light, Ambrosius throws caution to the wind and runs for freedom unaware that the abusive creature he was trying to escape is not far behind.

* * *

"Ludo find," the large orange beast exclaims.

Ludo ambles back towards the others carrying the missing brass ring in his hand. The others join him back at the doors. Hoggle takes the ring from his friend and heads for the door without its ring.

"Ok, you, open your mouth," Hoggle orders.

"Mm-mmm," the door utters with its lips tightly pressed together.

"Huh, doesn't want his ring back in his mouth, eh?" the left door says. "Can't say I blame him."

"Here, let me," Liz says.

She takes the ring from Hoggle and walks up to the uncooperative door.

"Open," she orders.

"Mm-mmm," the door responds again.

Igniting her hand, she lets the flames play over her fingers. She idly watches as the blue flames lick at her flesh. She holds it near the face so it can feel the heat and she can see the worry written on its metal features.

"Open your mouth, or I'll melt you," she says in a quiet menacing voice.

Without hesitation, the face opens its mouth and allows Liz to replace the ring. It grumbles as Liz douses the flame and knocks on the door. The door swings open and the travelers walk through into a forest.

"If we hurry and we're lucky, the fireys won't notice us," Hoggle says quietly as he nervously looks around.

The others follow Hoggle as silently as possible until a noise from not to far away causes Didymus to suddenly perk up his head and dirty, matted tail. Without a word, the knight takes off into the forest, following the sound. The rest of the group has no choice but to follow him. No one asks him where he's going; the noise they hear gives them the answer.

* * *

Ambrosius trots through the forest, occasionally stopping and sniffing the ground and air, occasionally changing direction. He knows this forest; it is located very close to the Bog where he and Didymus used to guard a rickety old bridge. Crossing that bridge used to scare him, but it's gone now and they live outside the Labyrinth with the other two.

Ambrosius is now looking for a way to get back to his home outside the walls. Maybe he'll find Didymus there. Catching a familiar scent he jogs towards it until he hears a voice that chills him to the bone.

* * *

Not knowing what else to do, Toby sits on a rock near the exit hole and sulks. He's furious. He's tired and hungry and that stupid mutt just left without him. If he could, he'd take more of his frustrations out on the dumb animal.

"It's not fair," he pouts. "I didn't want to be here. Why'd that stupid Helljerk have to go and ruin everything? It's not like I asked for his help or anything."

Getting up, Toby starts stomping through the forest looking something, anything, that will help him get out of here or at the very least get him some food. He tromps through the bushes not caring how much damage he causes. Leaving a path of destruction in his wake, Toby continues his journey until he sees a familiar being.

"YOU!" he shouts.

Ambrosius jumps at the sound of Toby's voice. Paralyzed with fear, the dog stands there shaking. He's unable to move as the boy charges up to him and swings his leg at the dog's head. Toby misjudges the distance and only grazes the dog's ear, but that's enough to snap Ambrosius out of his frozen state.

There comes a point in time in everyone's life when you have a choice. You can roll over and die or stand up and fight. That point in time has just come to Ambrosius.

Baring his teeth, Ambrosius lets out a growl that resonates through his chest. Toby stops and stares stupidly at the dog. Ambrosius starts barking and Toby turns tail and runs away with the sheepdog right on his heels. Toby quickly finds a tree with some low branch and scrambles up to safety. Ambrosius remains at the foot of the tree barking loudly so that the entire world knows that he's treed the villain.

A short time later, Didymus comes upon the scene and the most wonderful sight greets his eyes.

"Ambrosius, my valiant steed," Didymus cries. "You are safe."

Ambrosius stops his barking at the sound of his master's voice and turns towards it. Leaping across the clearing, the dog bowls his master over and starts licking the knight's face. Laughing and crying with joy, Didymus doesn't even try to stop him, despite how undignified the whole thing is.

Toby sees his chance to escape and takes it. But before he can touch his foot to the ground, he's plucked off of the tree like he was nothing more than an insignificant insect.

"It seems the pooch treed us a brat," Hellboy chuckles as he brings Toby up to eye level. The kid stares brazenly back into the golden eyes. "Don't try it again kid, next time I'll let the dog eat you."

Hoggle finally makes it to the clearing on his short stubby little legs huffing and puffing.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," he says in a low urgent voice.

Before anyone can ask why, the answer appears in the form of five red and orange strange creatures that are laughing and singing while tossing their own heads around.

"Oh no, not fireys," Hoggle whispers.

* * *

Make the kitty purr and leave a review.


	11. Obligatory Ballroom Scene

**Author's note**: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. I did get the idea for "glorified goldfish" from another author on the Hellboy page. Thanks to Underwater Owl for planting that seed in my head. It's time for this story to earn the Romance subject that I gave it. So onto the ballroom scene that I know some of you have been waiting for. As always, enjoy and please review when you're done.

* * *

Abe continues to lean against the side of the pit as the last of the glitter settles to the ground. Knowing that the two need to be alone to sort out their feelings, he had to chase them away from him. At least now his headache will go away. Brushing some of the hay away, he places a webbed hand on the floor. After a few moments concentration, he senses them in another part of the castle.

He nods with satisfaction as he submerges once more. Curling back into a ball in the small pit, he focuses on relaxing his muscles and slowing his metabolism. As sleep starts to claim him, he hopes that the others will hurry up and get to him.

* * *

Sarah continues to stare in awe of the ballroom. They're standing at the base of the stairs that they once danced down. She was so sure it was nothing more than a dream. She was in the forest when she ate that stupid peach. So how did she end up here last time? Jareth is the obvious answer as she turns around and faces the Goblin King again who is standing way too close for comfort.

For a brief instant she sees a look on his face that she's never seen before. But the look is gone in an instant replaced with his typical haughty look. If she didn't know better, she could swear that the previous look was longing.

"Welcome back, my love," he says in a voice that makes silk seem like sandpaper. She can feel his warm breath on her cheek and it sends shivers down her spine. "I haven't changed a thing since your last visit. Though I did have to replace the mirror you broke."

Glancing around, Sarah sees the floor to ceiling mirror at the end of the room. Breaking something actually sounds like a good idea. In particular, a certain Goblin King's head comes to mind. Instead of giving into her impulses, she takes several steps away from him.

"Nice," she replies as she crosses her arms over chest.

"Nice?" he asks mockingly. "Is that all I get?"

"Ok, how about, why?" she counters.

"Why?" he responds. "Why what?"

"Why bring me here?" she asks. "Why bring me to this room? Heck, why even bring me to the Underground at all?

"I have my reasons," he answers vaguely.

"Well, why don't you enlighten me?" she queries.

"I'm the king," he replies smugly. "I don't have to explain anything, little girl."

"Of course you don't," she snarls. "Heaven forbid the great Goblin King has to explain anything. Especially to some 'little girl' who just happened to beat his precious Labyrinth the last time she was here. You know I think I just figured something out."

"And what would that be, my dear?" he asks darkly as he starts to circle her.

"You had no power over me after our last encounter, so you had to use Toby to get to me," she replies with a look of triumph on her face. "You had to use a little boy to get your revenge."

"And it worked too," he purrs in her ear as he passes behind her causing goose bumps this time. "And now, I have complete power over you."

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asks quietly as her shoulders and head feel the effect of gravity once more.

"You already know the answer," he answers a bit hotly as he starts to walk away from her.

"I do?" she questions, looking at him.

"You said it yourself," he responds spinning to face her on his heel.

"When?"

"When you were telling Toby a bed time story."

She stands and thinks back to that night nine years ago. Toby was crying inconsolably. She was angry and frustrated. She started to tell him a story to try and get him to quiet down. It was based part on her life, part on the book. Her breath suddenly catches in her throat.

_But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl…_

_Oh god, that can't be right, _she thinks.

He watches her with a guarded expression. Hoping and fearing that she'll remember the line. She glances at him briefly and decides that pursuing this conversation is too dangerous. She's not sure what she feels towards the king and the thought of him being in love with her scares her spitless.

"If Hellboy doesn't make it in time, what are you going to do with Abe?" she asks, trying to desperately change the subject.

Jareth scowls at her before he finally responds.

"I'm not sure," he answers languidly. "I suppose I'll have to have a pond or something built for him. I can't very well leave him in my throne room. The stupid goblins would constantly be falling into the water. And the only thing that smells worse than a wet goblin is the Bog."

"You're not going to change him into something else?" she inquires.

"I can't," he says. He continues before she asks the inevitable next question. "A human can only be changed once in his or her lifetime. The change is so stressful that to try and change someone a second time will kill them."

"Abe was human once?" she asks in a hushed voice.

"Yes, once," he replies. "If I had to wager a guess, I'd say it was a very long time ago. Probably well over a hundred years."

"Who would do something like that?"

"Abe," he answers as she looks at him with confusion written on her beautiful features. "I believe that Abe did this to himself."

"He did that on purpose?"

"I didn't say he did it on purpose. I just said that he did it to himself."

"Wow," she whispers.

She sinks down to sit on one of the steps. Jareth comes and sits near her on the step. Feelings that Sarah isn't ready to face yet start running rampant through her again. She hunts for another subject to get her mind off of him and his possible feelings for her.

"What's going to happen to Toby?" she asks.

"When his time is up, I'll return him to your apartment," he answers.

"What about Hellboy and Liz?"

"The same."

"What are you going to turn me into?" she barely chokes out.

He leans over until his mouth is near her ear. She tries to lean away from him but is stopped by the wall.

"My queen," he whispers.

She stares at him with wide eyes. She's not sure if she should laugh or cry. He stares back at her. Fear and hope wage war within him. Hope that she'll accept him. Fear that she'll reject him again.

"What are you?" she finally asks.

"Excuse me?" he responds, sitting back.

Of all the things he expected her to say, this wasn't even in the running.

"What are you?" she repeats. "I know you're not human since no human could do the things you do. So, what are you?"

"I'm fey," he states proudly.

"What's the average life span of a fey?" she questions.

"A very, very long time," he answers vaguely.

"So, are we talking hundreds of years here?"

"More like thousands," he replies.

"Is this your idea of a sick joke?" she asks angrily. "A human lives at best a hundred years. I have twenty, maybe thirty years before I start looking old enough to be your mother. Another twenty years after that I'll look like your grandmother. Is this how you intend to get your revenge? By parading me around when I'm old and gray and saying 'Look at the human I made fall in love with me. Isn't she funny?'"

"Do you love me?" he asks.

"I don't know," she retorts on the verge of tears. "You're definitely beautiful and god knows I haven't so much as looked at another male since I defea…was last here. You should be happy with that revenge, you know. The fact that I'll die never having been kissed and it would have been your entire fault. Why couldn't you have been satisfied with that?"

At this point, she can no longer fight the tears. So, she stands and goes up the stairs that they danced down so many years ago. She keeps going until she's at the top and finds herself staring at a wall. She just stands there, leaning her head against the cool marble of the wall, hugging herself and wishing she was anywhere else but right there.

She can hear the clicking of his boots as he walks up behind her. She pretends she doesn't notice him in hopes that he'll just go away and leave her to her misery. He stops directly behind her but he doesn't touch her.

"Do you think you could love me?" he asks quietly.

"I don't know anything about you," she replies without looking up. "How can I love someone I don't know? And even if I knew every little detail about your life, how could I let myself knowing that I'll grow old and die and you won't change a bit."

"There is a way," he informs her as he leans against the wall, "to extend your life."

"How?" she asks while looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"There is a ritual we can perform," he answers. "It starts with us declaring our love to each other openly, then we feed each other food and drink off of the same plate and out of the same cup, and then we consummate our love."

"And then suddenly, poof, I'll live as long as you?" she inquires. "How can that be?"

"It's a little bit too complicated to describe exactly what happens, but what essentially happens is that our life spans merge and become one," he replies

"Huh?" she asks so intelligently.

"You'll live nearly as long as a regular fey," he answers.

"But still not as long as you," she points out.

"Actually, yes you will," he corrects.

"Excuse me?"

"By merging our life spans I will lengthen your life," he states.

"But I'll shorten yours," she says as things start to click into place. Shaking her head, she starts to walk away. "I can't do that to you."

"So you'd rather leave me to live a normal life span alone and desolate?" he asks. She stops and turns. He walks up to her until they're standing toe to toe. "You've ruined me for anyone else. I would rather live a few centuries less with you than to live a full life without you."

They stand there staring at each other for several minutes, neither one knowing what to do next. Sarah is too stunned by his admission to even think, while Jareth can feel his stomach tying itself into knots with fear that she'll reject him again. Finally, the silence is broken.

"Why couldn't you have told me this without making Toby wish me away?" she asks.

"Because I really didn't have any power over you," he answers. "And since you defeated me, my powers to go Aboveground have weakened. I can now only go when someone has been wished away."

"You were the owl that I would see in the park, weren't you?" she inquires as another piece of the puzzle falls into place.

"Yes," he breathes. "I used to love to watch you act out your fantasies. It was your incredibly strong belief in magic that attracted me to you in the first place."

"Some people would call that stalking, you know," she says with a smirk.

A brief image of Abe passes through Jareth's mind before he can respond.

"I guess some people would," he concedes. "But we're not some people."

"You're right," she responds sadly. "You're the Goblin King and I'm your prisoner."

Sarah turns and starts to head back down the stairs. As she gets down to the first landing, she feels something lightly touch her back. Before she can turn around, she feels a strange tingling sensation pass over her entire body. Looking down, she sees she's wearing the dress from her dream again. She doesn't have to touch her hair to know that it's been done up as it was nine years ago.

She turns back to Jareth as the music starts. He's wearing the blue sequined waist coat with the floor length tails, a white lacy high necked shirt like he was in her dream, and blue streaks run through his hair. Before she can open her mouth, he starts to sing as he descends the stairs.

**There's such a sad love  
Deep in your eyes.  
A kind of pale jewel  
Open and closed  
Within your eyes.  
I'll place the sky  
Within your eyes.  
**

He takes her into his arms and they start to dance.

**There's such a fooled heart  
Beating so fast  
In search of new dreams.  
A love that will last  
Within your heart.  
I'll place the moon  
Within your heart.**

Once again, they dance down the stairs, and then twirl around the empty floor.

**As the pain sweeps through,  
Makes no sense for you.  
Every thrill is gone.  
Wasn't too much fun at all,  
But I'll be there for you-ou-ou  
As the world falls down.**

**Falling.  
Falling down.  
Falling in love.**

**I'll paint you mornings of gold.  
I'll spin you Valentine evenings.  
Though we're strangers 'til now,  
We're choosing the path  
Between the stars.**

**I'll lay my love  
Between the stars.**

**As the pain sweeps through,  
Makes no sense for you.  
Every thrill is gone.  
Wasn't too much fun at all,  
But I'll be there for you-ou-ou  
As the world falls down.**

**Falling  
As the world falls down.  
Falling  
As the world falls down.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Falling.  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down.  
Makes no sense at all.  
Makes no sense to fall.  
Falling  
As the world falls down.  
Falling.  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down.  
Falling.  
Falling  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down.**

As the song ends, so does the dance with a flourish. They stand there, slightly out of breath gazing into each others eyes. He starts to lean down in search of her lips. She turns and steps away. As soon as the contact between them is broken, they're both back to wearing the clothes they had on before the dance.

"I still don't know anything about you," she reminds him.

Reclaiming her hand, he leads her over to an area that's filled with cushions next to the staircase.

"Sit," he orders.

She gives him an all too familiar stubborn look.

"Please, sit," he amends.

She quietly complies and sinks down into the soft pillows. He sits near her. He's close enough to touch her but not so close that she feels threatened.

"What do you want to know about me?" he asks.

She looks at him searchingly for a moment and then gives in to her curiosity. The next few hours are spent with her getting to know her Goblin King.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I don't own "As The World Falls Down."


	12. Through the Woods

"You've got to be joking," Hellboy chuckles.

He watches as the five characters bounce around the clearing, singing and throwing around various body parts. Their heads seem to be a favorite and they keep singing something about "Chilly down with the wild gang."

"Yous wouldn't be saying that if you knew what they can do to ya," Hoggle grumbles. "We needs to get out of here."

"Yeah, I guess your right," Hellboy concurs as he stuffs Toby under his arm.

The kid immediately starts struggling. Hellboy gives the little brat a quick and decisive thump on his rump, and Toby stops his squirming.

"My dad's a lawyer," Toby threatens with a whiny voice and tears of indignation in his eyes. "He's gonna sue you."

"Oh, yeah," Hellboy rumbles without looking at the boy, "I'm shakin' in my boots."

Meanwhile, the fireys have taken notice of a certain young woman with fair skin and dark hair.

"Hey, little lady," says the first one as it jumps onto Liz's shoulders. "Have you come back to let us take off your head?"

The others laugh as they start grabbing at her.

"OW! Hey, let go!" Liz yells while trying to shake them off. "RED!"

"Unhand the fair maiden, you varlets," demands Didymus before Hellboy can even blink.

The small knight quickly rushes to Liz's side and starts bashing knee caps with his staff. Ambrosius, still high off of chasing Toby up the tree, joins his master barking and snapping the hairy pests.

"HA! Take that!" Didymus gleefully cries as he knocks the leg off of one firey before going to work on the next one. "And that!"

Hellboy is at first startled by the fox's actions, but is actually impressed with Didymus's moves since two of the fireys are now lying on the ground trying to reattach their legs. He walks over and grabs the first firey he can reach around its narrow waist, plucking it off of one of Liz's arms.

"Hands off of the girlfriend, fuzzball," Hellboy orders as he tosses this one aside.

He goes to grab another one when the first one jumps up onto his shoulders and grabs his head and starts pulling.

"Hey, his head don't come off either," the firey exclaims in actual surprise.

As Hellboy struggles to get rid of the unwanted pest, Toby starts squirming, trying to get away again. Liz ignites her now free hand and grabs the firey that's holding onto her other arms. Surprisingly, the skinny little beast starts to laugh.

"That tickles," it giggles.

"This is not good," Liz states as she starts to panic and the flames start to creep up her arm.

"Their heads," Hoggle orders. "You gots to go for their heads."

Getting her fire under control, Liz grabs the hair on top of the head of the giggling firey and pulls the head off. The body quickly lets go of Liz and starts trying to find its head.

"Hey, lady, that's his head," complains the firey on her shoulders.

With her suddenly free hand, she reaches up and grabs this firey's ear, dragging the head away from the body.

"Hey, that's my head!" the firey exclaims as its body lands on the ground next to Liz's feet.

Liz plays a lovely game of keep away as the bodies scramble around the clearing trying to find their heads, the heads complaining the whole time. Hellboy follows her lead and grabs the head of the firey perched on his shoulders with it uttering protests of its own. Didymus, not to be outdone, takes his staff and knocks the heads off of the still prone fireys.

"Ok, now what?" Hellboy asks as the firey's body starts trying to grab its head back.

"We needs to keep them here while we gets out of here," Hoggle says.

"Great," Hellboy growls. "How do you suggest we do that?"

Hellboy barely manages to catch one of Toby's ankles as the boy wiggles out from under Hellboy's arm. He holds the boy up by his ankle in his left hand the firey's head with his right. The headless firey starts trying to pull Toby's head off while the kid yells in protest.

"Ludo, five rocks please," Hoggle requests of the large orange beast who's been standing to the side watching this whole time.

Ludo throws his head back and lets out a bellowing howl that causes the very air to shake with the sound. Howl after howl is issued until five large boulders roll into the clearing.

"Huh," Hellboy grunts. "Neat trick."

Hellboy walks over to Ludo and drops Toby on the ground next to the beast. Toby lies there shaking his head, trying to get the blood that rushed into it back to the rest of his body.

"Sit on that, would you?" Hellboy requests of the only creature tall enough to stare him in the eyes.

Ludo complies, and sits on the kid before Toby can escape the large orange behind coming to squish him. Toby yells muffled protests as Hellboy heads back towards the flailing bodies of the fireys.

"Ok, now what?" Hellboy asks Hoggle again.

"Gets rid of the heads and then pin the bodies under the rocks," Hoggle instructs. "Otherwise they'll chase us all the way to the city gates."

"Won't they starve or something if they can't get their heads back?" Liz asks, still dodging the groping hands of the two fireys she beheaded.

"Nah," Hoggle responds with a shrug. "They're more indestructible than goblins. The bodies will eventually work themselves free and go find their heads."

"Ok," Hellboy says with indifference.

He pulls back his right arm and shot puts the firey's head out of sight. He proceeds to do this to the other four heads with many complaints and protests from the heads. As soon as the last head is a distant memory, Hellboy starts moving the large rocks to pin down the bodies. The two still missing legs are easy enough to catch, but the other three refuse to sit still long enough for Hellboy to move a boulder on top of them.

Every time Hellboy thinks he's got one of the bodies cornered, it manages to get away by jumping over him or crawling between his legs or some other unexpected move. Hellboy spends a good half hour just trying to pin down the last three bodies.

By the time the final rock has been put in its resting place, Hellboy is hot, sweaty and in a right foul mood. He turns back to his traveling companions and his mood darkens even more.

Liz is on the ground holding her sides and tears are streaming down her face from laughing so hard. Ludo is also openly laughing. Hoggle at least has the decency to turn around and try not to make it too blatant, but it's obvious that his small body is shaking with mirth. Didymus is desperately trying not to laugh, but the occasional snicker still manages to escape his canine lips. Even Ambrosius looks like he would laugh if he could. The only one not laughing besides Hellboy is Toby and that's only because he missed the show while being Ludo's cushion.

Grumbling to himself, Hellboy heads over to Ludo to retrieve Toby. Ludo gets out Red's way as quickly as the beast can. By the time Toby realizes that Ludo is no longer sitting on him, he's been slung back over Hellboy's shoulder. Spitting dirt out of his mouth, Toby starts really struggling to get free, causing Hellboy to grab the kid rather roughly with the Right Hand of Doom drawing out a yelp of pain from the little brat.

"Listen, kid, I'm not in the mood," Hellboy growls. "Now you can lie there quietly or I can find a bag and stuff you in it."

"You wouldn't dare," Toby challenges. "You're going to be in so much trouble when I get back to my dad."

"Yeah, right, kid, whatever," Hellboy grumbles as he starts to head back the way they came.

The others follow him for a short time and Toby continues to struggle. He gives up from exhaustion after several minutes. Every once and a while, he gives another try for freedom only to have a large stone hand placed on his back as a reminder not to bother.

"Good sir, you but go the wrong way," Didymus calls to Hellboy causing the large red man to stop and look back over his shoulder with baleful yellow eyes. The knight points off to the right. "The castle doth lie yonder."

Hellboy waits for Didymus to take the lead and then follows the fox knight riding a sheepdog. The others follow in silence. Liz knows him well enough to know that approaching him will only further darken his mood, so she hangs back and waits for the demon to cool down.

She has a while to wait since it takes them a couple of hours to get through the rest of the forest. As they step beyond the final tree they can see their goal not that far into the distance. Before them lies a huge junk yard with the walls of the goblin city just beyond that. Liz steps up next to Hellboy and carefully scans the mounds of rubbish laid out before them.

"Are some of those piles moving?" Liz asks, bewildered.

"Yea, those are just the trash goblins, don't pay any mind to them," Hoggle informs them. "Well, come on then. We're not going to be able to save Sarah at this rate."

Hoggle starts off with the others not far behind. Toby really struggles in earnest as Hellboy starts to carefully examine his surroundings. Every once and a while a heap of trash gets up and moves away. After a few minutes, Hellboy has to stop looking around and concentrate on keeping Toby still.

Liz spots something interesting and carefully pulls it out from under a bunch of moldy bread and banana peels. After carefully shaking it off, she continues her search for something else that might be helpful. Within a few moments, she finds another item that will be useful. And as they near the city gates, she finally finds one last thing that they need.

Catching up to Hellboy, she holds up her finds as peace offerings. He gives her a lopsided grin and then a quick kiss. He takes the items and with Liz's help, quickly puts them to good use despite the complaints of a certain spoiled rotten brat.

Shortly after utilizing the newly acquired items, they reach the outside gates to the goblin city. A single guard stands watch, sound asleep next to the entrance. Without as much as a glance from the travelers, they push through the doors and step into a corridor just inside the walls. There's a second set of walls about ten feet from the first. Situated directly across from them is another open doorway.

"Come one, we needs to hurry before the gates close," Hoggle insists as he starts moving as fast as his little legs can carry him.

Toby picks that moment to start bucking and Hellboy nearly drops him. Hellboy and Liz are so busy dealing with the little brat that they barely notice the first set of gates close, followed by the second set closing, then sharp blades popping out of the ground to stop them from retreating back through the first gate or even the fifteen foot robot that is descending upon them.

"LOOK OUT!" Hoggle shouts as a giant axe swings over their heads.

Hellboy looks up only after hearing the clang of metal on stone and sees the behemoth. Leaving Toby in Liz's care, Hellboy swiftly calculates his next move and waits for the robot to make his. As the axe arches back through the air at them, Hellboy quickly moves closer to the robot and then catches the shaft of the weapon in his right hand. After a few moments of wrestling with the monstrosity, Hellboy manages to pull the axe out of its grasp. Then, with a mighty heave, he swings the axe and lands his blow across the knees of the machine.

Everyone else flattens themselves against the walls as the robot comes crashing down primarily on top of Hellboy. As the dust settles, there is no sign of Hellboy.

"He was truly the bravest knight I have ever had the honor of meeting," Didymus says sadly as he removes his hat and bows his head.

The others bow their heads in respect as well. Liz comes up to them, dragging Toby behind her and eyes the huge mound of scrap metal.

"Give him a minute," she tells them.

They turn and look at her quizzically. Before any of them can ask her what she means, the sound of metal scraping against metal meets their ears. They turn back in time to see Hellboy push the last of the rubble off of himself. Stepping out of the scrap pile, Hellboy shakes the dust from his coat, pulls a half smoked cigar out of a pocket, lights it and then looks back at the others. Four of his traveling companions have their jaws hanging open.

"Well, ya comin'?" he asks around the butt.

He turns back towards the second set of gates, pushes them open and steps into the goblin city. The others follow in his wake. Liz finally manages to catch up to him, dragging Toby along.

"Here, you forgot this," she states as she hands the boy back to Hellboy.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," he replies as he swings the kid back into position.

Hoggle cautiously leads them through the silent, seemingly empty city. They see a cat, a few rodents and the occasional chicken, but no goblins in the goblin city. They get to an open plaza with a fountain in the middle. On the far side is a set of stairs that leads up to the castle. Hoggle, Ambrosius , Ludo and even Didymus look like their about to jump out of their own skins.

"What's with the nerves?" Hellboy inquires.

"This is where we was ambushed by the goblin army last time," Hoggle tells him.

"Well, they don't seem to be here now," Liz observes.

"Yeah," Hoggle agrees. "And that's what makes me nervous."

They continue on with Hoggle and Ambrosius practically jumping at every shadow and little sound as they reach the doors of the castle. They stop and eye the large metal doors warily. Even Hellboy and Liz are now feeling nervous.

"I don't like this," Liz states.

"I hear ya," Hellboy replies. "This is too easy. What's Queenie's game?"

"I don't know what Jareth has up his sleeve, but it can't be good," Hoggle warns.

"Why are the milk bottles outside the castle doors?" Liz asks as she looks to the left of the doors.

"Well, most of the people wished aways to Jareth are just babies," Hoggle explains. "So they kind of need to keep a good supply of milk on hand."

"Oh, ok," Liz replies.

Hellboy pushes the doors open and then lets Hoggle lead them towards the throne room. After a couple of minutes of going through twists and turns they finally step into the apparently empty throne room. By this point Hellboy and Liz are pretty strung out from the nerves. They're not used to an enemy just letting them waltz through to the end. They warily look around the room and all but jump out of their own skins when they hear a voice in their heads.

_It's about time you two showed up_.

* * *

**Author's note**: According to the comics Abe was human once and it seems he accidentally changed himself into what he is now.

Please leave a contribution in the little box.


	13. Enlightenment

The past few hours have been very enlightening for Sarah. She now knows almost everything there is to know about the Goblin King, from his favorite past time (flying) to his favorite color (indigo). She's even come to rather shaky terms about him taking wished away babies and what becomes of them when the wisher fails to negotiate the Labyrinth on time. However, one question still nags at the back of her mind and she's not sure how to ask it or if she should even ask it at all. She sinks deeper into the comfortable cushions and chews her lip in worry.

"What worries you, my love?" Jareth asks quietly.

Sarah looks up at him and is actually a bit taken aback. When did he move so close to her? She suddenly realizes it not him that's moved, but her. Unconsciously, she kept shifting her position to get more comfortable and in the process, ended up with them sitting next to each other. He is now close enough to stretch out his arm and wrap it around her shoulders, but instead, his hands rest in his lap. For a brief moment, she's disappointed. After giving herself a quick mental shake, she finally answers his question.

"There's something else I want to ask you," she starts. "But I'm not sure how you'll take it or if I even want to hear the answer."

"I said you could ask me anything and I meant it," he responds.

"Well, ok," she says nervously. "If I hadn't beat…solved the Labyrinth last time, what would you have done to Toby?"

"Every Goblin King has been named Jareth from the very first to me," he informs her. "I was planning on changing Toby's name to Jareth. He would have become the next Goblin King."

"But he's only a human," she states in confusion. "How could he be king if he's only a mortal? And how could he do what you do without magic?"

"If a child is brought here at a young enough age, and they stay here long enough they tend to absorb the magic that is inherent to the Underground, eventually becoming a magical being," he explains. "In fact, everyone who comes here absorbs a little bit of the magic into them, some more than others. It mostly depends on their convictions as well. A person who doesn't believe in magic before he or she comes here isn't likely to absorb any magic or at least very little of it. Since a child doesn't have any beliefs or convictions, they soak up the magic like a proverbial sponge. Toby may have not lived as long as a fey, but he would have lived a longer life than a normal mortal and he would have had magic."

"Oh, wow," is all she can say.

Having her sit so close to him has been a sweet torture. It has taken all of his willpower to keep from reaching out and pulling her to him. The fact that she has been the one moving closer, little by little, has sent his heart soaring in the clouds with hope.

She shifts again and moves another fraction of an inch closer. He's not sure he can contain his impulses for much longer. His arm itches to be wrapped around her, holding her to him.

"Does that mean Toby still has some amount of magic in him?" she asks.

"A little bit," he answers. "It's how I was able to contact him so that you could be brought here."

She glares at him for a few moments as the memory of how she got here is brought to the forefront of her mind. She's still not happy that in a very short time she will be nothing more than property to the monarch. He sees her face and his soaring heart feels like it's taken up sky diving.

"What happens if I don't love you?" she inquires.

"I could force you to become my royal consort. I still need an heir, you know," he responds truthfully. The anger and pain etched onto her beautiful features causes him to swiftly continue. "But I will probably find a place for you to live out the rest of your natural life where you can be as happy as possible."

"Do I have magic?" she questions.

He's not sure how or even if he should answer this question. If she knew how much power she really has, it could be devastating, not only for him, but for his world. She could easily use it against him and that actually sends a small shiver of fear down his spine.

She's watching him expectantly, waiting for the answer. Fortunately for him, he is saved from answering. Salvation comes in the form of a small ugly goblin bursting into the room through a door that had previously been unseen behind some of the drapes that are hanging from the ceiling.

"YOUR MAJESTY! YOUR MAJESTY!" the creature yells.

It runs across the room and then comes to a screeching halt in front of them, performing a very quick bow.

"Yes, what is it?" the king answers in an almost bored fashion.

"The red man, the lady that burns, the monster, the knight and the dwarf who used to work for you," it gasps out as quickly as it can.

"What about them?" he asks in a near growl.

"They have gotten through the gates and are in the goblin city!" it exclaims in nervous excitement. "They are on their way to the castle!"

"Is the boy with them?" the monarch inquires almost casually.

"No, sire," it answers.

Sarah's heart sinks to the someplace below the vicinity of the soles of her grubby socks. In the back of her mind, she had silently hoped that Hoggle or Hellboy or someone would have been able to get Toby out of the oubliette. Now all hope is gone, and in seventeen minutes she will become a permanent resident of the Underground.

"Then let them come," the king orders in the same tone of voice as before. "I have no interest in what they're after."

The creature performs another quick bow and scurries out of the room. Jareth turns his attention back to the woman next to him. The look on her face of utter hopelessness breaks his heart. His heart completes its sky dive right into the Bog.

For a moment, he thinks of retrieving Toby and bringing him here so that she could be free. But the fear of losing her again is too great, and besides the Labyrinth would be very angry. It wasn't too pleased the last time she left and it would be outright furious if she left this time. Of that, he is sure of.

"Would it really be so horrible to love me?" he quietly asks.

"A loving relationship is built on trust and respect, not resentment and fear," she whispers her answer.

He doesn't know how to answer that, so he stays silent. She moves back to her original sitting spot and curls up into a ball. After several minutes, he notices her quietly crying, he touches her shoulder, but she shakes his hand off. He lets his hand drop back into his lap and stares at it. Abe said that love gives you strength; he never said anything about it making you feel like dirt.

Another goblin comes charging in a little while later, stops short of its king and bows.

"Your Majesty, the red man, the lady that burns…" it starts.

"Yes, what about them?" Jareth interrupts in frustration.

"They have entered the castle," it reports.

"Very well," the king responds as he waves away his subject. "Leave them be."

The goblin bows again and scampers back out the door. Jareth stands and holds his hand out to Sarah.

"Do you want to say goodbye to Abe?" he asks.

She looks up at him with tears streaming down her face. She nods and then hastily wipes the tears from her face. Placing a shaking hand in his, she lets him pull her to her feet. He produces a crystal and throws it to the ground. A second later, they're in the now rather crowded throne room.

Abe is standing in the pit looking up at someone who's on the other side of Ludo and smiling. Everyone is staring at Abe and they don't notice Sarah and Jareth's arrival. Sarah can't see very well past her large orange friend, but she suspects that it must be Hellboy and Liz that Abe is looking at. Sarah glances at the clock on the wall. Six minutes to go before she needs to start filling out change of address cards.

"Touch him and you'll be returned to your world," Jareth informs the rescuers.

Startled, almost everyone jumps at the sound of the Goblin King's voice. Turning toward the newcomers, smiles light the faces of Sarah's old friends.

"MY LADY!" Didymus exclaims.

"SAWAH," Ludo happily cries.

"Hello, little missy," Hoggle greets with a smile.

Sarah pulls away from Jareth and runs to her friends. She hugs them without saying a word. She knows that if she utters a sound right now it will lead to more tears. After finally managing to disentangle herself from Ludo's hug, Sarah turns towards the pit and Abe.

He's now standing on the edge of the small pool with a puddle of water building up around his feet as the water slides off of his smooth blue and green body. She grabs him in a rib crunching hug causing his eyes to slightly bug out. He quickly recovers and gently returns the hug. When she finally releases him, her front is damp and he's slightly drier.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"You're welcome," he replies quietly.

She looks down and notices the now sodden bandages on his arm. Feelings of chagrin and shame overcome her sadness for a moment.

"Sorry about the goblins," she apologizes again.

"It's all right. I'll heal," he responds with a graceful shrug and a wave of his hand. "May I introduce you to Hellboy and Liz?"

Sarah turns around and gets her first good look at the people that attempted to save her. It amazes her that anyone would go through so much trouble for her, especial a couple of complete strangers. The woman, while shorter than Sarah, is very pretty but seems to have a permanent sadness deep in her eyes. Hellboy towers over Sarah with his bright red skin, sawed off horns and glowing yellow eyes that seems to contain something close to amusement in them.

"Hi," Sarah greats. "Thank you for trying to save me."

"You're welcome," Liz answers with a small smile on her lips.

"Hey, not a problem," Hellboy grunts. Suddenly he swings in front of him a fair sized burlap bag that had been hanging over his shoulder and hands it to Sarah. "Here, we got you a going away present."

He handles it so casually that Sarah isn't expecting the weight of the thing. When he lets go, she almost completely drops it onto the hard stone floor. As it is, the bag and its contents still hit the floor hard enough to make the bag grunt in pain. In confusion, Sarah quickly opens it and then gasps in surprise by what she sees.

"**NO!"** Jareth screams.

Pulling back his arm, the king quickly creates a crystal and throws it at Sarah. Before the orb can reach its target, Abe deftly catches it in midair and then disappears. Hellboy pulls out the Samaritan and aims it at the monarch as Jareth pulls back his arm again and creates another crystal.

"JARETH, STOP!" Sarah yells, stretching out her hand towards him and willing him to obey.

"ALRIGHT, QUEENIE, WHERE THE HELL IS ABE?" Hellboy shouts at the same time.

Jareth stands frozen, not moving a muscle, not even blinking and definitely not answering. After several moments of an immobile king, Sarah walks over to him, waves a hand in front of his face and gets no reaction. She realizes that he has completely stopped, and in fact, to her horror, he's even stopped breathing.

"Oh god, Jareth, please breathe," Sarah chokes out.

The king complies with a ragged and sudden drawing of breath into his body, but that is the only movement he does. Sarah watches for a few seconds more and then something dawns on her.

_But what no one knew was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl…and he had given her certain powers._

"Get rid of the crystal," she orders the Goblin King.

The crystal disappears.

"Lower your arm," she commands.

He does as he's told, but that is all he does. His body still holds the stance like he's about to throw something even though his arm hangs by his side.

"If you promise not to try and send me anywhere, I'll release you," she informs him. "Do you agree?"

"Yes," he growls through clenched teeth.

"I release you," she says.

His body moves into a more relaxed stance. He glares at Sarah with a combination of fear, anger and sadness.

"I guess I do have power," she comments.

Jareth only nods.

"How much do I have?" she asks.

"Enough," he grumbles.

"Enough to stop you from sending me someplace so I couldn't go home," she snarls. "Do you hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you, Sarah," Jareth states quietly with a look on his face akin to the one he wore at the end of her last visit to the Underground.

"Well, you sure as hell aren't acting like someone who cares about me," she snaps. "I'm leaving now. And if you have any respect for me, then you'll trust me to make the right decision."

At this, Sarah turns and storms back across the room towards the Hellboy and Liz as the clock starts to chime. Sarah grabs the top of the bag and opens it enough to reveal Toby's hog tied hands and feet. Toby tries to protest his treatment, but his cries are muffled by the gag in his mouth. Sarah touches her brother, and in a cloud of glitter, they disappear.

Hellboy still has his weapon aimed at the Goblin King who's turned towards the window and is looking out over his domain. He's waiting for the Labyrinth's reaction to Sarah's departure, but surprisingly, none comes this time.

"Where's Abe?" the demon growls.

"He's up the stairs in the Escher Room," the king responds listlessly. "You have one hour to find him."

"No need," says Abe as he takes the last few steps into the room.

"Normally I'd ask how, but right now, I just don't care," Jareth barely utters.

"Give her time," Abe consoles. "She'll be back."

"How the bloody hell would you know?" the monarch snarls.

"Because he just knows," Hellboy replies as he holsters the Samaritan. "As annoying as the fish stick is, he's right. She'll be back."

Jareth looks doubtfully at the large red being as Abe collects his discarded gear off of the floor. He dons most of the items except the respirator and then comes to stand by his friends.

"Ready to go home, you big red monkey?" Abe asks, trying not to smile at the glare he's rewarded by his friend and failing miserably.

Liz and Hellboy both touch Abe and the three disappear in another cloud of glitter. Hoggle, Didymus and Ludo silently watch their king. Hoggle knows it's better to just get the punishment over with as soon as possible, so he waits. Didymus is expecting a commendation for their bravery, so he also waits. Ludo is just waiting for his friends to leave. Jareth looks at them briefly, and then with one final cloud of glitter, the goblin king disappears.


	14. Back to the Begining

**SARAH'S APARTMENT 11:22 PM**

"Ah crap," John mutters as he watches Hellboy, Liz and the boy disappear with the Goblin King.

"Damn," he swears. It doesn't seem like enough. "DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN!"

There, that was better. Well, a little bit better at any rate. With a sigh, John starts to systematically search the apartment. He knows that they're not here, but he searches anyways. He checks the bedroom, the tiny bathroom and the almost nonexistent kitchen. He checks the closets, the shower and even the kitchen cabinets.

With another sigh, John ends his search. He knew he wouldn't find them. He just wanted to make sure that he could say that he did search for them.

"Admit it, John," he mumbles to himself. "You're stalling."

He stands in the middle of the tiny apartment staring at the front door. He knows he has to go out there and report to Manning. He can already see his boss's reaction in his minds eye. Manning's going to blow a gasket.

"I am so dead," he moans as he heads for the door.

Taking the few steps necessary to cross the room, John opens to door and looks out into the hallway. Manning and several other agents turn towards the sound of the door opening, looking expectantly at John.

"Um, sir?" Johns says hesitantly.

"Yes, Myers, what is it?" Manning asks in a haughty tone.

"Uh, there seems to be a problem," the younger man starts.

"What problem?" Manning inquires, his voice taking on a more dangerous tone.

"Well, you see, sir," John stammers. "They're gone."

"Who's gone?"

"They are."

"Hellboy's gone? AGAIN?"

"And Abe. And Liz. And the boy."

"WHAT?" Manning screeches as he charges past John into the apartment with several agents in his wake.

Manning takes a brief look around the room and then turns towards the other agents.

"Search everywhere," he orders the agents with a wave of his arm.

"I've already done that," John states quietly.

"How did this happen?" Manning demands of the younger man.

John relates what happened several minutes earlier. He tells Manning about the noises in the shadows, Toby's confession about wishing his sister away to the Goblin King, the kid trying to wish John away, Hellboy accidentally wishing Abe away, the arrival of the Goblin King and everyone but him leaving in a cloud of glitter. As he finishes his tale, John glances at the clock. It's now 11:59.

With an exasperated sigh, Manning glares at his subordinate for a minute. The clock on the wall starts to chime 12:00 just as Manning opens his mouth to tear John a new one. But before a single word can pass his lips, Sarah Williams appears out of thin air right next to them. Manning gives a little yip of surprise at the sudden arrival while glitter slowly settles to the ground.

Sarah's hair is messed up, her clothes are torn, dirty and damp, she has several bandages on her arms and she has a look of complete and utter relief on her face. At her feet, hog tied, gagged and stuffed into a burlap bag is her brother Toby. He also looks like he's been rolling around in the dirt and he has a livid expression on his face. Sarah takes a quick look around her rather crowded apartment.

"Who are you people?" she asks.

"Miss Williams?" John counter asks. When he gets a nod of confirmation, he continues, "Hi, I'm John Myers. We're with the FBI and we're here because of a rather unusual report we received from the police who were called by your neighbor."

"So you came here with Hellboy, Liz and Abe?" she inquires.

"Um," is all John gets out before she continues on.

"They were still there when I left," she tells him. "God, I hope Jareth didn't do anything to them."

"We're quite all right," Abe reassures her.

She turns towards the bedroom door as Abe, followed by Liz and Hellboy, comes out of that room and Sarah gives out a sigh of relief. If the apartment wasn't crowded before, the addition of three more people, especially a rather large red one, make it now seem down right claustrophobic.

Sarah wonders how to get people out of her place but her train of thought is interrupted by muffled screams. Looking down, she realizes that Toby's still trussed up on the floor. She contemplates leaving him like that just for the fact that he had to be forced to come and get her, but decides better of it. With a reluctant sigh, she bends over and starts trying to untie his bonds.

"Why is Toby trussed up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey?" John asks, looking straight at Hellboy.

"He wouldn't come quietly," Hellboy states with a shrug.

"Hellboy, you should get a special merit badge for these knots," Sarah grumbles as she struggles with the rope.

Liz comes over and places a burning finger against one of the loops. Within a matter of seconds, Toby is free. With a thrashing of arms and legs, Toby rids himself of the rope and bag. Standing up, he removes the gag, throws it onto the floor and then glares at his sister.

"I'm telling Mom and Dad," he threatens. "You're going to be in so much trouble."

"What are they going to do?" Sarah retorts. "Deny me the privilege of your company? Don't I wish."

"And YOU!" the brat yells, rounding on Hellboy. "My dad's going to sue you."

"I don't think so, young man," Manning interrupts with a superior tone. "If your father tries, the government will deny the existence of Hellboy. Your father will be made a fool of and his reputation will be ruined."

"And I wouldn't bother trying to tell anyone about what happened," Sarah warns him. "Not unless you want to spend some serious amounts of time in a nice quiet room with padded walls."

"But..." Toby starts in near tears with frustration.

"'But' nothing, Toby," Sarah interrupts in a voice that brooks no argument. "Now go take a shower and get changed. You're filthy and making a mess all over my floor."

"NO!" Toby shouts defiantly.

"Fine, you can sleep on the floor then," Sarah states with a shrug. "You're not getting on my furniture until you've cleaned up."

Toby stands there fuming for a few moments before he goes storming into the bedroom, returning a few seconds later with a change of clothes in his hand and then slams the bathroom door shut. With a sigh of frustration, Sarah now turns her attention to the man in the expensive suit.

"Would you mind taking your men out of my apartment, Mr.…?" Sarah starts.

"Dr. Manning," Manning informs her. "I must warn you not to try and tell Hellboy's or Abe's existence to anyone."

"Dr. Manning, my best friends are a dwarf, a beast and a one eyed fox that rides a sheepdog," Sarah informs him. "I've never told anyone that for the past nine years nor have I told anyone of my first trip to the Underground in all this time either. Trust me, I can keep a secret."

"Very well, but if you do try, the government will deny your claims," he cautions.

"That's fine, Dr. Manning," Sarah agrees. "No would you mind leaving? I'm tired and want to go to bed."

Manning nods, signals his men, and leaves the apartment. The rest of the agents start to file out. Sarah reaches down and picks up the items that held Toby prisoner for a short period of time in order to throw them away.

When she picks up the gag Hellboy used, she gets her first good look at it and she starts laughing. Abe comes over to see what's so funny. She hands him the cloth, he looks at it and starts to chuckle. Soon, Sarah is laughing so hard she's having trouble breathing. Attracted to the sound, Hellboy and Liz stay behind as the other agents leave.

"What's so funny?" Hellboy asks his curiosity piqued.

Abe hands him the scrap of cloth and the others look at it quizzically.

"What about it?" Liz asks.

"What's printed on the cloth?" Abe counter asks.

"Apples," Hellboy answers. "So?"

Sarah is now sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face, holding her side and on the verge of hyperventilating.

"I'll explain later," Abe replies as he sits on the floor next to Sarah. "Cover your nose and mouth with your hands or you're going to hyperventilate."

Sarah complies, and after a couple of minutes, her breathing returns close to normal. As the humor wears off, the stress of the past thirteen hours sets in and she starts to cry great gasping sobs. Abe pulls her to him and she gratefully leans on his shoulder, thankful for the support. After several more minutes, she calms down, but she continues to lean on Abe.

"What am I going to do, Abe?" she whispers without looking up.

"Do you love him?" he asks.

"I don't know, maybe," she replies. "He's the only one I've ever thought about as more than a friend. What am I going to do?"

"You'll have to make that decision on your own," he answers. "It won't be easy, and it will take a lot of soul searching. But in the end, I think you'll make the right decision for you."

"Thank you, Abe," she says as she finally looks up at him. "I think you're the only friend I have in _this_ world."

"You're welcome," he replies.

He takes off one of his gloves and cradles her cheek in his bare hand. In the brief moment that skin meets skin, Abe gives her a small gift. She smiles and he gracefully rises from the floor and starts heading towards the exit that the others have already gone through.

"Are you going to be all right?" she asks from where she sits. "For the trip back to wherever you came from, I mean."

"I'll be fine, thank you," he responds. "I have a spare respirator in the truck."

"I'm glad," she says. "Good bye, Abe."

"Good bye, Sarah," Abe replies as he lets himself out of the apartment.

Sarah sits and stares at the closed door until Toby finally emerges from the bathroom. He's clean and in his pajamas. He walks past her, turns on the TV and then plops himself down on the couch. Sarah wearily gets to her feet, goes over to the TV and turns it down.

"Please keep it down," she requests. "I don't want the neighbors calling the police again."

Toby stares at her in disbelief as she heads for the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to order me to go to bed?" he asks in confusion.

"No, Toby, I'm not," his sister answers. "I really don't care what you do as long as you don't wake me after I go to bed."

"I thought I got the bed," he says in a rather combative tone of voice.

"Since you're determined to stay up, you get the couch," she responds. "Pillows and blankets are over by the window."

"But I want the bed," he whines.

"This might be a great shock to you, kid, but I really don't care what you want," she replies. "It's my bed and I'm sleeping in it. Goodnight, Toby."

With that she goes into her room and collects a few items. Then she goes into the bathroom, showers, dresses and then heads to bed. As she takes one last glance into the living room, she sees that Toby is already asleep on the couch. Sarah gets a pillow and a couple of blankets and makes him comfortable. Turning off the TV, she heads to bed and is asleep herself within seconds of lying down.


	15. Decisions

Jareth appears in the desolate waste that once was part of his hedge maze. There is nothing but blackened ruins except for the few bushes that survived because of the spell that followed Hellboy through the Labyrinth. Going over to them, he lays a hand on them. Not even a smudge of soot mars the leaves of these few remaining plants.

With a sigh, the king looks back over the devastation. It looks like he feels: black and desolate. After years of careful planning, everything is ruined. Sarah has once again returned to the Aboveground, never to return. He doesn't care what that walking fish said, he knows that she's gone forever. Sitting down in the ashes of his maze with his back to the hedge he was examining, he places his head on his drawn up knees and wallows in his self pity.

* * *

_Sarah stands in the Labyrinth not sure which way to go. Finally, she just picks a direction and goes. She knows that she needs to get somewhere, but she's not sure where or why. As she walks, the walls start to crumble and fall. She starts to run, but the bricks still come down and she barely manages to dodge the falling debris._

_She runs around a corner and comes out into a blackened area. There's nothing around but soot and ash for at least a mile around her. There is one anomaly. Out in the middle of all this waste, is a six foot high hedge. Carefully, she heads towards it. _

_When she reaches it, she realizes it's not one bush but three in the shape of a U. Cautiously walking around it, she nearly trips over a figure on the ground. He doesn't move or acknowledge her presence. She leans down to touch him, but voices stop her._

"_Don't," they say._

_Turning around, she sees the Wise Man, complete with his talking hat standing a little ways off. She walks towards him._

"_I'm glad you're still alive," she states._

"_We are not who you think we are," the figure and the hat reply in unison._

_While only two mouths are moving, Sarah hears several voices at once when they talk._

"_Who are you?" she asks._

"_We are the Labyrinth," it answers. "Your mind has given us this form in order to try and comprehend what is happening."_

"_Oh," she replies. "If you're not really the Wise Man then who's that over there sitting on the ground?"_

"_That is the Goblin King," they respond._

"_Why is he here?" she asks. "Why am I here?"_

"_We are dying," they reply. "Without you, he will become as desolate as this landscape and die. If the king dies without an heir or a Queen to rule in his place, the Labyrinth will die as well."_

"_How can I help?" she inquires, dreading the answer._

"_You must return," they answer. "Leave your world, and come back to us forever."_

"_It's only forever," she whispers, "not that long at all."_

"_You must return," they state again. _

"_I don't know if I can," she states._

"_You must return," they repeat._

"_But…"_

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sarah bolts into an upright position, startled out of a sound sleep. Trying to remember the dream she was having, all she can remember is a desolate landscape, the Goblin King and the Wise Man talking with a lot more voices than he should have.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The door buzzer goes off again and Sarah drags herself out of bed. Yawning and stretching all the way, she finally reaches the speaker by the front door. She pushes the "Talk" button.

"Yes?" she asks groggily.

After not getting a response for a couple of seconds, she remembers to let go of the "Talk" button and press the "Listen" button.

"…you answered," comes the less the pleasant sound of Sarah's stepmother. "Well, hurry up and open the door already."

Sarah complies with pressing the release button for a few seconds and then heads towards the couch. Toby's still asleep on the couch. Sarah looks at him for a couple of seconds, noticing that in sleep he looks so sweet. Looks can be deceiving. Reaching down, she shakes him awake.

"Wake up, Toby," she orders. "The parental units are here."

Toby grumbles and rolls over, trying to ignore Sarah and falls off of the couch in the process. With a cry of pain, he sits up and glares at his sister.

"I'm telling Mom and Dad that you made me sleep on the couch," he threatens.

"And I care because…?" she asks. "Get dressed and get your stuff together. They're on their way up."

Sarah turns and heads back into her room to get changed. As she finishes dressing the buzzer on the door goes off. She heads for the door but is cut off by Toby barreling past her. He flings the door open and all but knocks his mother over as he runs into her arms.

"How's my precious baby?" she coos in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Did you miss Mommy?"

"Sarah was mean to me," he cries with crocodile tears. "She made me sleep on the couch."

"What?" Karen screeches in indignation as she walks into the apartment with Toby still wrapped around her waist and Sarah's father trailing behind them. "How dare you make him sleep on the couch!"

"This is my apartment," Sarah states.

"I don't care," Karen interrupts. "You don't make your guests sleep on your dirty old couch."

"Yeah, if he was an invited guest, I would let him have the bed," Sarah snaps back. "But he wasn't invited now was he? You and Dad decided to dump him on me _again_. You're lucky I even let him in the door."

"Now, Sarah, don't speak to your mother that way," Richard tries to intervene.

"First off, she's not my mother," Sarah counters, rounding on her father. "Secondly, I'm sick and tired of you two dropping him on me whenever the mood strikes you. I don't have time to play babysitter to a whiny little brat."

"How dare you…?" Karen begins to threaten.

"Trust me lady, I dare," Sarah snarls back. "Toby, go get your stuff together. I have to leave for work in ten minutes and I don't have time for you to dawdle. I refuse to be late again because of you."

With that, she heads back into her bedroom to finish getting ready for work, by the time she reemerges, Toby is cramming the last of his stuff into his duffel bag. Karen has a look of distaste clearly written across her face as she looks around.

"How can you possibly live in the horrible little apartment?" Karen asks. "It has no view whatsoever, and don't even get me started on the neighborhood. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has broken into our car already. Richard, you did remember to set the car alarm, didn't you?"

"Yes, dear," Richard answers.

Sarah just ignores them as she grabs her purse and an apple and then heads for the door. Holding it open, she waits for everyone to leave before shutting and locking the door. She tries to put as much distance between them and herself as they all troop down the stairs towards the lobby. All the while, Karen is loudly complaining about the building, the lack of elevator and the neighborhood but mostly she's grousing about Sarah herself and the mistreatment of Toby.

As Sarah steps out of the stairwell, the landlord of the building pops out of his apartment right in front of her. He's a rather disgusting man. He wears a ratty old pair of jeans that are at least one size to small and a grubby undershirt with various stains on it. His hair is greasy from lack of water and shampoo coming in contact with it, his rather large belly hangs over the top of the jeans and he smells of unwashed human, stale beer and even staler tobacco smoke.

"Hey, sweet cheeks, where you goin'?" he asks with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"To work," she answers without making eye contact.

He steps out further into the corridor and blocks her path with his bulk.

"Your rent is late," he states.

"I get paid on Friday," she replies, still not looking him in the face. "You'll get your money then."

"You know, I could over look the rent if you just do me one little favor," he suggests.

"I know about those 'favors'," Sarah retorts. "You'll get your money on Friday, like I said."

"Maybe I should just kick you out," he snarls.

"You do that," she snaps back as she scoots past him.

Sarah exits the building and sees her 'family' getting into their Mercedes S Class. They see her, but don't bother to offer her a lift to work. She turns the corner and has to run to catch her bus.

An hour and a bus and train ride later, Sarah finally walks into the book shop she works at. As she walks in the door, her boss is waiting for her. She quickly checks her watch.

"Ok, I know I'm on time," she starts.

"Sarah, please join me in my office," he states.

She follows him into his tiny office in the back of the store with a sense of dread. He closes the door behind her and than takes a seat at his desk.

"Sarah, I hate to tell you this, but we're going to have to let you go," he says sadly.

"What? But why?" she demands, a sense of panic setting in. "I've only been late a couple of times, and I've never called in sick. I've worked hard and I've done everything you've asked of me."

"It has nothing to do with your performance, Sarah," he tries to reassure her. "The store isn't doing as well as the home office would like. Because of that, we have to let several people go. I'm sorry."

He pulls an envelope out of his desk and hands it to her. She opens it and finds her final paycheck inside. She looks at the amount and the panic increases ten fold.

"This is barely enough to cover my rent, I won't have enough for food," she states quietly. "Couldn't you please just let me work through the end of the week?"

"I'm sorry, it's out of my hands," he replies as he stands back up and heads for the door. "If you need a reference, please don't hesitate to use my name."

"Thanks," she mumbles.

She stuffs the envelope into her purse and heads back out of the office. She leaves the store and starts to walk. She's not sure where she's going, she just goes.

Some time later, she finally looks up and notices that she's wandered into Central Park. She looks around and notices a nearby pond with a couple of swans in it and a stone bridge over it. It brings back memories of a fateful evening nine years ago.

The memories of her dream flood back into her brain, nearly knocking her off of her feet. The images of a collapsing Labyrinth and a defeated Goblin King leave her shaken to her core. The Wise Man/Labyrinth insisting that she must return; that one turns her stomach into a knot.

Taking a seat on a bench, she pulls the apple out of her pocket. She stares at it for a while, remembering another fruit that turned her world upside down all those long years ago.

Suddenly, she's holding a peach. Sarah nearly drops it, and then remembers what happened in the throne room before she left. Jareth's words from the ballroom come back to her.

_Everyone who comes here absorbs a little bit of the magic into them, some more than others. It mostly depends on their convictions as well. A person who doesn't believe in magic before he or she comes here isn't likely to absorb any magic or at least very little of it. _

But what if that person truly believes in magic? What then?

Concentrating again, the peach turns back into an apple. Well, it all most turns back. While it has the shape and smell of an apple, the skin is furry. She takes a bite and is surprised by its sweetness. It's the perfect combination of apple and peach.

"Maybe I should give up trying to be an actress and become a magician," she mutters. "Or better yet, I'll open a fruit stand selling really weird fruit. Oh, yea, I'm sure there's a really big market in that."

With a sigh, she sits and watches the swans swimming by, just letting her mind wander where it may. Mostly her mind wanders its own labyrinth, taking several different twists and turns. The Goblin King is the most frequented thought followed by images of a crumbling Labyrinth.

Eventually, she notices that it's starting to get late and people are now heading home for the day. She knows she should get going, but the thought of fighting her way through the crush of bodies that will be on the subway and bus and then the possibility of having another confrontation with the landlord makes her wish she was already home with all of her heart.

In a blink of an eye, the bench is gone and Sarah is falling. She lands on her back and she ends up staring at the ceiling in her apartment. She lies there for several minutes contemplating the surface above her. The stained peeling paint reminds her again of the Labyrinth. Finally, she decides to get up off of the floor.

"No wonder Jareth always stands up before popping from one place to another," she grumbles as she brushes herself off.

As she heads into the kitchen, she notices that there's a message on her answering machine. Pushing the button as she passes, she stops as her father's voice fills the apartment.

"Hi, Sarah, it's your father. We just got home and Toby's been telling us a pretty amazing story about a demon, a lady that can set her hand on fire, a big orange monster that can call rocks, a dwarf and a one eyed fox who rides a sheepdog. He also mentioned something about goblins and a Goblin King. Now I know we've asked you to stop filling his head with those fantasies you were so fond of as a child. Since you haven't listened to our wishes and the fact that we're now going to have to pay to send Toby to a therapist, your mother and I have come to a decision." There are several seconds of silence before he continues. "We've decided that you're never to contact us again. Especially Toby. I'm sorry this is the way it has to be, but you forced the issue with making him believe all of that crazy stuff. Goodbye, Sarah."

Sarah stands in her little kitchen staring at the machine for some indeterminate amount of time. She expects to feel something after hearing her father's declaration, but nothing comes. Not anger nor sadness nor regret or anything else for that matter, just a sort of numbness comes over her followed quickly by a determined resolve.

Finally, she comes to a decision. After tossing out the remains of her apple/peach, she decides to take inventory of her wardrobe. When she is done going through her closet, only a few outfits past muster for what she wants. She sighs, plops down in her vanity chair and contemplates what to do next.

She sits and stares at herself in the mirror above her old white vanity. She decides to make a list of things she'll need to do and get, so she pulls out a pad of paper that some real estate agent left and a pen. She starts to write.

By the time she is done she has a rather lengthy list that takes several pages. She goes over the list one more time and then heads towards the kitchen again. She hits the erase button on the machine as she passes it and then makes herself something to eat. After she's done eating, she cleans up the kitchen, showers and then heads to bed. She lies there for several minutes wondering if she's making the right choice. Then she remembers the message from her father, and she knows that she's making the right decision.


	16. I need you

The next morning Sarah starts to sort through, for lack of a better term, her assets.

The first thing to do is to go over her book collection. Working in a book store had advantages and disadvantages. While she got a great discount on books, she probably bought way more than she should have. So she goes through her book case and starts putting them in boxes. Except for the Labyrinth book, none of these holds any personal worth to her.

Next is her clothing. Most of it ends up in a box as well, with the exception of the few outfits that she deems worthy and those that are just to worn out and have to be tossed out.

Finally, there is anything that might be of sentimental value. A few pictures, a comb made of mother of pearl that her grandmother gave her and some odds and ends. She decides to take the wall clock that her grandfather made for her as a present for her eighteenth birthday, even though the Underground works on a twenty-six hour day.

After everything is organized, she showers, dresses and then has something to eat. After cleaning up, she takes the box of clothing and heads out. Her first stop is the homeless shelter to donate the clothes. Then it's off to the bank to deposit her check.

She returns to the apartment to deal with the three boxes of books that she's accumulated. Making sure that she's touching each box, she closes her eyes. Then she closes her eyes and silently wishes to go to the local library with all of her heart. In particular, she wishes to be in the ladies bathroom so as not to scare anyone with her sudden appearance.

When she opens her eyes and sees the tiled walls, she gives a sigh of relief until she notices the urinal. Moving as quickly as she can, she tries to get out the door before she's noticed. After finally moving the boxes to the door, she reaches for it just as the door opens and a man stands there with a rather stunned look on his face. He says something in Spanish.

"Sorry, I guess I went through the wrong door," Sarah replies with a small smile as she continues to carry, push and shove the boxes out of the bathroom.

After the books are donated to the library, she returns to her apartment in much the same way as she arrived. No sooner does she reappear in her living room then she collapses. With what little energy she has left, she crawls over onto the couch and takes a nap.

When she reawakens she sees long shadows stretched across the wall. Staggering into the kitchen, she notices that she's been asleep for a couple of hours. She's so tired it feels like she's run a marathon. Pulling open the fridge, she eats almost everything in sight, ravenous. After she is finally sated, she sits and wonders why she was so hungry.

Shaking her head in confusion, she returns to her bedroom and sits at her desk. Pulling open one of the drawers, she pulls out some stationary that she was given as a present many years ago. She gets out a pen and sits and thinks for a few minutes before she starts to write.

A couple of hours and a few wadded up pieces of paper later, Sarah finishes her letter, places it in an envelope and seals it. With a stretch and a yawn, she gets up, changes and then crawls into her small bed, promptly falling asleep.

When she wakes in the morning, she drags herself back to the kitchen and notices a message on her answering machine. She's not too surprised that she missed it yesterday, considering how wiped out she felt. She pushes the play button and feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end when her father's voice fills the room.

"Hello, Sarah, this is your father. I just called to let you know that we took Toby to the therapist today, and she says that it's going to take months, possibly even years to undo the damage you have done. That being the case, Karen and I are expecting you to pay for his therapy. We will be sending you a bill at the end of the month. Good bye."

As the machine clicks off, Sarah gets a nearly overwhelming urge to smash the machine. Taking several deep breaths, she remembers you shouldn't shoot the messenger just because you didn't like the message. Then a rather evil thought enters her brain.

Going to her purse, she pulls out her only credit card. Her father got it for her when she first moved out. He had applied for a joint account in both their names. The deal was that she should use it only in an emergency, and then she would pay it off. When her credit became good enough, she was supposed to get a card in her own name and cancel this one. Well, she never got around to doing that, and now it was time to make her 'family' pay for the hell they have put her through.

Quickly dialing the number on the back of the card Sarah finds out that she has a rather nice credit limit on the card thanks to her father's very good credit history. With a rather evil smile plastered on her face, she carefully puts the credit card back in her wallet. Her father's credit rating is about to go on a roller coaster ride.

She returns to her room and writes another letter. This one she addresses to her father. It takes her a few minutes to explain that she is moving and leaving no forwarding address. Also, she will not be paying for Toby's therapy and gives a brief and rather explicit description of what he can do with the bill. She addresses the letter, sticks a stamp on it and then puts it in her purse.

As soon as she is done with that, she takes a shower, dresses and then heads out the door, taking the second letter with her. As her foot leaves the last step of the staircase, the landlord, in all of his disgusting glory, steps out of his apartment into the corridor and ogles at her.

"Hey, sweet cheeks, where you goin'?" he leers.

"You know, I really wish you'd treat women with more respect," she says.

No sooner do the words leave her mouth then he jerks like he's been slapped in the face. A look of pleasantness suddenly takes over his features and he smiles.

"Good morning, Miss Williams," he greets nicely. "How are you this fine day?"

"I'm fine, thank," Sarah responds, smiling.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your rent is over due," he states with a look of concern on his face.

"I'll be moving out soon," she informs him. "Whatever is left in the apartment after I'm gone you can sell to try and settle the cost. Oh, and you can keep my deposit as well."

He looks at her in shock as she quickly walks past him, drops the letter in the outgoing mail slot and then out the door. Her first stop is the bank to close her account. With that meager amount safely stashed away in her purse, she heads for the subway station. Once she arrives in downtown Manhattan proper, she heads for 5th Avenue.

Her next stop is at a very posh hair salon. She's not sure when she'll next be able to have her hair professionally done, and besides, she wants to look good for a certain someone. After having her hair cut and styled, getting a manicure and a pedicure, and leaving a very generous tip for all the wonderful people who worked on her, she leaves.

Realizing it's lunch time, she stops at the most expensive restaurant she can find. After having an incredible lunch and leaving a thirty percent tip, she heads out on a mission.

She goes to Macy's, Bloomingdales, Neimen Marcus, Saks and even Victoria's Secret. By the time she's done, her arms are loaded down with packages (except for the ones she has already wished back to the apartment) and the credit card has been maxed out. Waving down a taxi, she heads back to the apartment. Upon arrival at the apartment building, she pays the cabby and gives him a very nice tip as well.

Once she enters the apartment, she starts to go through and organize her purchases. After everything is in place, she changes her clothes into something a bit more tasteful than jeans and a t-shirt. That gets stuffed into one of the boxes waiting to go with her.

Then she takes the now well worn credit card, cuts it to pieces, and then tosses the remains into the trash. That accomplished, she picks up the letter she wrote last night, staring intently at it, she wishes it away to the only friend she has in _this_ world.

* * *

Abe languidly floats in his tank reading. Just as he's finishing one page and getting ready to move on to the next book waiting on its stand, an envelope appears with his name on it. He hovers there stunned for a moment before he quickly leaves the tank, trots downstairs and retrieves the letter. As he picks it up with his bare hands, all that has been happening in Sarah's life floods his senses.

Giving his head a brief shake to clear the vision, he opens his letter and reads. While the words written tell him her plans, the paper they're written on tells him even more. A smile crosses his face as Hellboy walks in.

"Whatcha ya got there, Abe?" he asks.

"A letter from Sarah Williams," the blue man answers as he hands the paper over to his friend. "She's made her decision."

"How did she know where to send it?" Hellboy demands after he reads the message. "You didn't give her the bureau's address did you? Because if you did, I want a front row seat to your chewing out from Manning."

"That's not very nice," Abe admonishes. "And I didn't give her the address."

"If you didn't give her the address, then how did she get this here?" Hellboy queries, waving the paper at Abe.

"She wished it here," he replies with an elegant shrug. "Didn't you say she was able to stop the Goblin King dead in his tracks?"

"Yeah, she did," Red replies. "I guess she still has that voodoo from the Underground. I wonder what made her make up her mind."

"Her family," Abe answers. "And love."

"It doesn't say that in the letter," Hellboy states as he scans the letter again. "What gave you the idea it was her family?"

Abe simply holds up the envelope that he still holds in his hand instead of answering.

"What did her family do that made her want to leave?" he asks. "And please tell me she's not in love with Queenie."

"I'll tell you about it after I get back in the water," Abe replies with a smile.

He heads back up the spiral staircase he came down a short while ago as Hellboy finds a seat and makes himself comfortable. A few moments later, Abe returns to his spot in front of the books and then he starts to tell Hellboy everything the envelope revealed to the merman.

* * *

Sarah stares at her empty hand and hopes that her aim was true. She's kind of saddened that once she leaves, it's very likely that she'll never see Abe again. But the chances of seeing him again anyways were pretty miniscule to begin with. With one last check in the mirror, she says the fateful words that will change her life forever. She hopes.

"I need you, Jareth."

"Do you now," comes the familiar voice from the direction of her bed.

Sarah turns and looks at the man reclining on her bed. He's lying on his side, propped up on one elbow with a guarded look on his face. He's wearing the usual poet's shirt, gloves, knee high boots and tight pants. There are dark circles under his eyes and he actually looks a bit thinner than when she saw him a couple of days ago.

"Yes, I do," she answers, taking a couple of steps towards the bed.

He launches himself off of the bed with the speed and grace of a hunting cat. He steps up to Sarah and stands toe to toe with her. He glares at her with hurt and anger in his mismatched eyes.

She stands up to him though the fear in her is threatening to overwhelm her. Her stomach has turned itself into one huge knot, her palms are sweating and she can feel her knees quaking. Only her pride keeps her from throwing herself at his feet in tears begging for forgiveness.

"And why should I believe you?" he snarls.

"Because you were right," she responds. "I have nothing in this world. My dreams are gone. My family hates me. I have nothing."

"Why would you want to come to the Underground?" he growls, eyes narrowing. "You didn't seem all that happy to be there last time."

"This time I'm going of my own free will," she answers.

"What makes you think I want you back?" he hisses.

"I can only hope that you still love me," she replies, never taking her eyes off of his. "I think I'm in love with you."

He stares at her for a couple of minutes, not speaking. Finally, he reaches up a hand and gently strokes her cheek with a gloved finger. She closes her eyes as the feeling of him touching her causes shivers to run down her spine. Embolden by her reaction, he cups her face with the same hand.

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave," he whispers.

"No, yes, no and no," she answers, her eyes flying open and boring into his. She places her hand on top of his to keep him from pulling away. "I will not fear you, I won't always do as you say and I don't want a slave. I want a partner whom I can talk too and share my dreams with. I am also willing to love you with every fiber of my being. All I ask of you is the same. Can you accept that?"

"Yes, I think I can," he says hoarsely.

He starts to lean down. She closes her eyes and tilts her head back to give him easier access to her lips. He gently kisses her, causing delightful shivers to run relay races up and down her spine.

His free arm snakes around her waist while hers wraps itself around his neck. By the time they part, her knees are weak and she's grateful that his arm is holding her up. With a sigh, she keeps her eyes closed and leans her head against his chest, breathing in the scent of him. Her arms move to encircle his waist and she leans against him, content to just stay there for the rest of whatever.

He stands there feeling like his heart has finally started truly beating for the first time in his life. He gently strokes her hair with one hand while the other holds her to him. He happily looks around and notices several boxes stacked nearby.

"What's with the boxes?" he quietly asks.

"Just some things I want to take with me," she answers with out changing her position.

"What's in them?" he inquires.

"Clothes mostly," she replies. "And memories of a happier time of my life here."

"Will you be happy with me?" he inquires.

"I certainly hope so," she responds, finally looking up at him. "Though the goblins will probably take some getting used to."

He chuckles as he steps back and produces a crystal. He plays with it for a moment before tossing it at the pile. It disappears in a cloud of glitter.

"You know, when I wish things away, there's no glitter," she states.

She notices his body stiffen at that comment.

"You've been able to use magic here?" he chokes out.

"Yes, of course I have," she answers. "Why?"

"Normally, when people return to the Aboveground, any absorbed magic usually turns itself into some sort of talent, like music, art or science," he responds. "No one has ever been able to manipulate the magic for their own purposes before."

"No one was ever able to beat the Labyrinth before me either," she points out. "What about Liz and Hellboy? They finished it; will they start being able to use magic?"

"Not likely," he replies. "They were already imbued with magic before they came to the Underground. If they did absorb anything, it will only enhance their own powers. The same holds true with Abe."

"Liz is more powerful?" she asks rhetorically. "That's kind of frightening when you think about it."

"Yes, it is," he answers. "I'm glad she's living here and not in the Underground. I don't think the Labyrinth could take it."

"I had a dream the first night I was back," she tells him quietly, not quite looking at him. "I was in the burnt out area and you were there on the ground. The Wise Man was there only it wasn't the Wise Man, it was the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth told me you would die without me, and that if you died, it would too."

"The Labyrinth always was one for the melodramatic," he replies haughtily. "I doubt I would die without you."

"Oh," she responds meekly her heart sinking.

"Though I do believe I would have been bloody well miserable without you," he states as he pulls her back into his arms. "Have I told you how beautiful you are tonight?"

"No," she answers, laying her head back on his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

"Well, you look wonderful," he tells her. "I do have something to ask you. Would you be my queen?"

She looks back up at him with a smile on her and tears of happiness in her eyes.

"Yes," she answers.

A lopsided grin graces his face as he starts to lean over to kiss her. He stops just shy of her lips with a confused look on his face.

"What's the matter?" she asks worriedly.

"What's a 'Puff the Magic Drag Queen?"

_**Fini**_

* * *

**Author's Note**: In case you're wondering what the 'gift' Abe gave Sarah, it was the knowledge that Jareth loves her. Please remember to review.


End file.
